Albany, N.Y. – Redshirt junior guard Malik Garner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow/Sunrise Christian Academy/Saginaw Valley State) scored 20 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to an 81-56 season-opening win over Georgian Court University on Friday evening at The College of Saint Rose's Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

Garner tallied 10 points in each half to lead three Dolphins in double figures, while adding three rebounds and two assists. Graduate student guard Tyree Chambers (Bayreuth, Germany/Graf-Münster Gymnasium/Providence) registered 13 points in the first half, while senior guard C.J. Asuncion-Byrd (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich/St. Thomas More/Gannon) recorded 11 points.

Matt Ringel led the Lions in the loss with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Justin Figueroa posted 10 points off the bench.

Chambers opened the game with the first five points and tallied seven of the first 11 to give the Dolphins a 9-2 advantage.

After the Lions pulled within 11-9, the Dolphins tallied 10 of the next 12 points for their first double-digit lead of the game. Garner and Chambers each hit three-pointers in the span, while junior forward Tom Brown (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) made a pair of lay-ups.

The Lions countered with an 11-5 push to get back within 26-22 with 4:13 left in the half. Figueroa and Kim Speller each had four points in the stretch for Georgian Court.
 
Le Moyne closed out the half with the final 14 points over 3:45 to take a 40-22 lead into halftime. Chambers started the streak with a three-pointer, junior guard Ryan Roland (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Mercyhurst) followed with a fast-break lay-up, Garner made a jumper and a three-pointer and redshirt junior forward Souleymane Gueye (Dakar, Senegal/Hachioji Academy (Japan)/Snow College) tallied the final four points.

After the Dolphins scored the first two points of the second half for a 20-point lead, the Lions scored nine consecutive points to get within 11. Ringel had six of the points in the span.

Le Moyne countered with a 14-4 run over 3:44 to take a 58-37 lead with 9:41 to play. Garner had the first seven points and 10 points total in the stretch.

After the Lions scored four points to get within 17, Le Moyne's lead bounced between 19 and 23 points before the Dolphins scored the final five points of the game for their largest margin of the contest.

Le Moyne (1-0) opens Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday at American International College at 7:30 p.m.