Harrisburg, Ill. – The Southeastern Illinois College Men’s Basketball team rolled to a 119-91 victory over Greenville University in their home-opening contest on Wednesday night.

The Falcons led wire-to-wire with nine different players hitting the scoring column led by sophomores Brandon Anthony (24 points) and Noah Curry (27 points.)

"There’s no place like home. Our guys put in countless hours in this gym and they were excited to show the results in front of a great opening night crowd" second-year head coach Sam Swinford noted after the game. "Overall, I thought we got off to a great start and I thought our effort was consistent for 40 minutes."

The Falcons jumped out to an early lead thanks in part to a strong start from the opening tip, leading Greenville 40-18 at the half way point of the first half. A pair of triples from Curry along with a transition dunk by freshman Amari Wales electrified the crowd early en route to the what would be a 32-point lead at half time. Wales finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in his Deaton Gym debut. Other starters Jermarco Burse and Bryce Simpson combined for 20 points, 22 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks in the effort.

SIC had plenty of scoring options in the game as the team picked up 36 bench points. "We knew it would take all of us," Swinford said. "We had different guys step up on both ends of the floor and all ten players who were dressed contributed.”

Off the bench, sophomore Devin Rankin chipped in an efficient 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go with four rebounds, an assist, and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Sophomore Amir Spann nearly tallied a double-double with 13 points and eight boards from the guard spot. Freshman big man Kaiden Kender also shined for the Falcons down low with 7 points including a deep three-pointer late in the first half. Kaleb Ramer rounded out the scoring with 3 points but was made his presence felt with 7 rebounds and 2 big blocks. Newcomer Eli Mackey didn’t score in the contest, but tallied 20 minutes and added several rebounds, assists, and steals.

Overall, SIC won the battle on the glass grabbing 60 total rebounds with all 10 players contributing. Greenville was led by D.J. Smith with 21 points in 9-for-16 shooting.

UP NEXT The Falcons play host to the 7-0 Kaskaskia College Blue Devils on Friday night back at Deaton Gym.