MONMOUTH, Ore. - EJ Boyce and Jordan Kitchen combined for 44 points as the Saints shot lights out in the 95-79 victory over Fresno Pacific at the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, hosted by Western Oregon.

The Saints (1-0) found their grove early, going on a 15-0 run to open the game and used 14-for-28 shooting beyond the arc to cruise to a 16-point victory over Fresno Pacific (0-1).

Luke Chavez and Boyce connected with back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game before Kitchen and Matt Dahlen made baskets to put the Saints up 10-0. Another bucket for Dahlen and a 3-pointer by Rhett Baerlocher capped off the 15-0 start with 17:54 left in the first half.

The Saints continued their barrage from beyond the arc over the next six minutes, drilling four more 3-pointers to extend their lead to 31-10 at the 11:19 mark in the first half. The freshman combo, BJ Standley and Tavian Henderson, found each other in the paint for dunk and a 23 point lead, their largest of the game.

The Sun Birds began slowly chipping away that SMU's lead before a 10-0 run by Fresno Pacific cut the score to 44-33 with 2:45 left in the half. Caden Smith came off the bench to provide a run snapping 3-pointer and sparked a 10-5 run by the Saints to close out the half at 54-38.

Fresno Pacific began the second half on a 7-1 run in the opening five minutes, while the Saints' offense failed to score their first field goal until Kitchen's dunk at 14:28 left in the game. A basket by Kitchen and back-to-back 3-pointers by Boyce stretched the Saints' lead back to 16 at 57-41 with 12:17 left in the half. 

Standley scored seven of the next eight points for the Saints as SMU and Fresno Pacific traded baskets down the stretch. Saint Martin's extended their lead out to 19 before closing out the game for a 95-79 victory to open up the 2017-18 regular season. 

"It's nice to start the season off with a win," said head coach Alex Pribble. "But this is much more about the process than the result for us. We shared the ball well offensively, but we have to improve upon on the defensive end."

EJ Boyce led the game with 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor and 7-for-10 beyond the arc, along with three rebounds and three assists. Jordan Kitchen, the 2017-18 Preseason All-Conference selection, opened up the year with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double. Rhett Baerlocher and BJ Standley scored 11 and 10 points respectively while combining for eight rebounds and five assists. Luke Chavez added nine points with four rebounds and four assists while Tavian Henderson provided eight points and three rebounds off the bench.

"We got a great performance from Jordan (Kitchen) tonight," said Pribble. "He brought consistent energy and rebounded the ball well. EJ (Boyce) also shot the ball very well for us."

The Saints as a team shot effectively from the floor, 33-for-67 (49.3 percent) and 14-for-28 (50.0 percent) beyond the arc. At the free throw line, SMU converted 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) chances. The Saints won the battle on the boards against Fresno Pacific to a tune of 43-to-32. Saint Martin's collected 14 assists on 14 turnovers, with five blocks and three steals.

"We will have a great test against Point Loma tomorrow night," Pribble said. "They are a very good offensive team, so it will be a good challenge to see if we can improve on that end of the floor."

Saint Martin's takes on Point Loma on Saturday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m. to wrap up the GNAC/PacWest Challenge. Live stats and video will be available with links on smusaints.com.