Stanford Cardinal guard Oziyah Sellers (4) led the Cardinal in scoring on Mon Nov 4, 2024 against the Denver Pioneers at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto (Stanford Cardinal photo)
By Michael Roberson
STANFORD, Calif. — The Staford Cardinal (1-0, 0-0 ACC) won their season opener with a 85-62 victory over the University of Denver Pioneers (0-1, 0-0 Summit League) on an Early Afternoon in Palo Alto.
Despite a nip and tuck beginning to the contest, Stanford eventually took charge and pulled away from the competition. The first half had five ties and seven lead changes, and was really competitive until late in the stanza.
“I was really pleased for our first home game; I thought we played well in a lot of stretches, and Denver played really hard.” Explained Stanford HC Kyle Smith.
Near the 7-minute mark of the first half, Stanford went on a 17-0 run, taking a great deal of fight from the Mile-High Explorers. During the initial 20 minutes, the Cardinal hit five threes, blocked 5 shots, swiped 9 steals, dished 8 assists, and forced 12 turnovers.
At the midway point of the game, Stanford led by 16 (38-22), although their largest advantage during the initial half was two points greater. Junior guard Benny Gealer led the home team with 12 points, on four made 3-pointers. Senior forward Maxime Raynaud was near a double-double, with nine points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard DeAndre Craig topped the Pioneers with eight points and four rebounds..
The second half had even more contributions from the Cardinal hooper, including junior guard Oziyah Sellers and his 17 additional points to the teams’ tally. Sellers had a productive seven points in the first half, but exploded for more than double his early output. Raynaud also continued his consistent play with points, rebounds and assists,
Denver continued to fight; however, the Cardinal ‘s attack and defense was too strong, as they led by as much as 27 points late in the game. When the final horn sounded and the 40 minutes of regulation expired, the Cardinal had secured their first win of the 2024-25 season, 85-62.
The aforementioned Sellers led all scorers with his career high 24 points, and he grabbed 7 rebounds. Raynaud accomplished a double-double (16 points & 12 rebounds) and gave 6 assists, swiped two steals and blocked a shot.
Two other Cardinal hoopers were in double figures: Gealer (12) and graduate guard Jaylen Blakes (12), who also dropped 6 dimes himself for the squad.
The Pioneers had three players to eclipse the 10-point plateau. Craig (12), freshman guard Sebastian Akins (150 and senior forward Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente (10).
The Cardinal will next be in action Friday, November 8 at Maples hosting Fullerton at 1:00 PM PST on ACC Extra/ESPN+. Denver heads back to Colorado to host Western Colorado on the same date at 1:00 PM MST on Micro Sports Plus/Summit League Network.