NEW CONCORD, Ohio – Muskingum University scored the first seven points of Tuesday night's season-opening basketball game and never looked back. The host Fighting Muskies led by as many as 18 points in the first half and cruised to an 85-60 win over the Kenyon College Lords.

The Lords (0-1) got a team-high 13 points from junior Phillip Crampton and a dozen points each from Bennett Grigull and Matt Shifrin. Those three combined to shoot 14-of-26 (53.8 percent). The rest of the Lords were just 9-of-42 (21.4 percent).  

To make matters worse for Kenyon, many of those missed shots were snared by the Muskies, who ended up out-rebounding the Lords, 58-37. Crampton and Grigull did most of the work on the glass for Kenyon as they grabbed nine and eight boards, respectively.

Muskingum (1-0) was powered by senior forward Joshua Keyes who amassed game-highs of 22 points and 18 rebounds. He was 10-of-11 from the field and 2-of-2 at the free throw line. Other double-digit scorers for the home team included Jalen Paige with 14, Jarrell Marsh with 13 and Rickey Wilson with 11.

After the slow start, Kenyon got a layup from Grigull, a pair of free throws from Alexander Powell and another layup from Alex Laub. That pulled the Kenyon men within four of the Muskies, but that's as close as they would get for the rest of the game.

Muskingum scored 11 straight points and turned a 16-12 advantage into a 27-12 cushion in a matter of three minutes. Keyes alone was responsible for seven of those 11 points. By the time the teams made it to halftime, the Muskies built up a 43-25 lead.

In hopes of closing the gap during the second half, Kenyon turned to the three-point shot. The accuracy just wasn't there, however, and the Lords went 3-of-17 over the final 20 minutes and 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) for the game.

Muskingum maintained its double-digit lead and the Lords never drew closer than 14 points in the second half. The 25-point difference in the final score was the largest lead of the game for the Muskies.

The Lords will put this game behind them and move on to face Trine University on Friday evening in Angola, Indiana. Trine was a 68-62 winner over Defiance College in its season-opening game Tuesday.