Chris Oliver and his Windsor Lancers tipped off the 2018 season in Waterloo Saturday night. The Lancers got off to hot start and  had good offense throughout on their way to the first victory of 2018, 82-68.

GAME STATS
Damian Persaud led all scorers with 24 points on 8-17 shooting. The Warriors were paced by Justin Malnerich who scored 23 on 8-13 shooting including 7-11 from beyond the arc.

The Lancers had a solid outing on defense, allowing just a 31 per cent field goal rate. Waterloo on the other hand allowed the Lancers to make 43 per cent of their looks.

The Lancers had a solid day on the boards as well brining in 46 rebounds to the Warrior's 33. Windsor also edged the Warriors in blocks, 6-2.

GAME FLOW
The first half was a tale of two quarters and two different players. In the first quarter Persaud led the Lancers offense cutting to the basket and making tough looks on route to a five point first quarter lead. In the second the Warriors closed the gap with some help from Malnerich who led the Warriors in points at half with eight. Despite Malnerich's contributions the Warriors had no answer for Anthony Zrvnar, who essentially did what he wanted on the way to a 16 point 7-11 halftime line; as well as a 44-25 lead for the Lancers.

In the third quarter Windsor kept their foot on the gas as Persaud kept attacking and finding ways to score and facilitate the blue and gold attack. Also finding his way in on the scoring was touted freshman Thomas Kennedy who contributed 11 points in the second half. The Warriors made a push midway through the fourth quarter, cutting the Lancer lead down to as close as 10, the Lancers battled through; taking their first game 82-68.

UP NEXT
Up next the Lancers stay on the road, traveling to Hamilton to take on McMaster on Saturday, Oct. 27. Tip off is at 3:00 and you can watch live OUA.tv.