Warriors Kick Off Season With Win Over Bethesda

San Dimas, CA - On Friday evening, the Warriors kicked their season off with a pre-season matchup against Bethesda University.  Thanks to their strong shooting from the perimeter, the Warriors were able to pull off the victory by a final score of 89-79.

The first score of the game came from the Flames of Bethesda, getting them off to a 3-0 lead, but after that shot, it was all Warriors.  The Warriors took the lead on a layup by Kyler Villarreal and a 3-pointer by Pedro Leal-Cruz, and never looked back.  The first half featured a balanced scoring attack from multiple Warriors.  They were able to go into the break, holding a 42-36 lead.

They continued their hot shooting, pushing their lead up to 74-59 late in the 2nd half.  The Flame made a late push and were able to trim the Warrior's lead to 6 in the final minute, but LPU remained on top and finished the game out with a double-digit victory.

LPU was able to pull of their victory, thanks to a balanced scoring effort by the Warriors in which four different players finished with double digits in the scoring column.  Austin Cook led the way for LPU, as he flirted with a triple-double; he finished with 22 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds.  Daniel Hernandez was on fire off of the bench, hitting 5 of his 9 attempts from the perimeter.  He finished with 15 points on the game, to go along with a career mark, 9 rebounds.  Kyler Villarreal (14 points) and Ethan Galang (13 points) began the season just how they finished it last season, as they provided steady scoring for the Warriors.  Thanks to the overall unselfish play as they finished with 25 assists as a team, the Warriors were an impressive 17 for 36 from the perimeter, which set the tone for the game.

When reflecting on the team's victory over Bethesda, Coach Tim Cook stated, "Our guys knew that Bethesda was going to come out and really test us in every area of our program.  It was a tremendous battle from start to finish by our squad.  Our veteran leadership really stepped up and I'm so proud of the guys and how they fought on every play.  We played incredibly unselfish basketball, finishing with 25 assists and we were able to shoot the ball really well tonight.  So proud of this team and excited to get after it next game."

Impactful Warrior Performances

Austin Cook

• 22 points
• 9 assists
• 8 rebounds
• 2 steals

Daniel Hernandez

• 15 points (off the bench)
• 9 rebounds

Kyler Villarreal

• 14 points
• 6 assists
• 4 rebounds
• 3 blocks
• 2 steals

Ethan Galang

• 13 points
• 2 rebounds
• 2 assists
• 2 steals

NEXT GAME:

• October 30th @ 1:30pm
• Prescott, AZ
• Watch the game live at lpuwarriors.com/watch