UGF men win opener

The University of Great Falls men's basketball season started off with a 100-55 blowout of Concordia University College of Alberta in The McLaughlin Center late Thursday night.

Great Falls was in control from the opening tip, using an aggressive defense to pester the CUCA offense. The Argos forced the Thunder into 29 turnovers, 18 of which came off of steals. They also limited their opponent to just 32 percent shooting from the field.

"We did a good job defensively. We forced turnovers and we had a good opponent field goal percentage, which is one of our goals this season," said head coach Anthony Owens.

In the first half, UGF used the 3-point line to its advantage. Thanks in large part to sophomore Jarrett Givens, the Argos knocked down six of 11 shots from long range in the first period. Conversely they held the Thunder to just one made 3-point field goal.

Givens, who redshirted with UGF last season, led the game with 23 points, hitting 4-6 from three and adding three steals. The next highest scorers were junior transfer Braylon Spicer and senior Darren Lockett who each finished with 14 points.

Owens said he liked what he saw from Lockett, as the senior returned to the impressive form he showed at the beginning of the 2014-15 season. Lockett was an efficient 5-6 from the field with six rebounds.

Givens, Lockett, and Spicer combined to shoot 12-15 from the free throw line but the rest of the Argos didn't fair as well. The team shot just 55 percent from the line, proving that the they still has plenty to work on. Owens also said he'd like to see the team clean up its 15 turnovers.

UGF will have over a week to work on free throws, turnovers, and other aspects of their game before their next contest. They travel to Kamloops, British Columbia for a two-day event starting with Thompson Rivers on October 16 at 8 p.m.