Stanford men’s basketball (1-0, 0-0 ACC) hosted its home opener against Eastern Washington University (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky) on Monday night. Surviving a close first half, the Cardinal built up their lead in the second, coming out victorious with a score of 74-65. This victory is on trend for Stanford, coming off of last year’s 20-13 record, but the team is intent on improving this season through the addition of talented new frosh and transfers.
Stanford began the game matching Eastern Washington point for point, then gradually fell behind 28-15 with six minutes left in the first half. However, two layups by freshman guard Julius Price brought Stanford back into contention, sparking a comeback that brought the team within two points with three minutes remaining. In the final seconds of the half, a layup by fifth-year transfer forward Nick Townsend and a buzzer-beater three point shot by freshman forward Aziz Olajuwon brought Stanford ahead 34-30.
“I felt we started off slow, but we stayed resilient and fought our way back,” Price said after the game.
Stanford carried that momentum into the second half, scoring twice within the first two minutes. The Card then built up a healthy lead, with an impressive dunk by junior forward Donavin Young and a three-pointer and floating jump shot by Price bringing the lead to 48-39.
Then, the Cardinal faltered. Eastern Washington came back to tie the game 48-48 with 13 minutes left in regulation. Stanford made it back into the lead with a three-pointer by Olajuwon and a layup by senior forward Aidan Cammann.
The game remained close after this point, with Stanford and Eastern Washington trading baskets. As the minutes ticked down in regulation, the Cardinal built up their confidence and increased the lead, closing out the game on two free throws after Olajuwon drew a foul.
Stanford secured their home opener victory with a score of 74-65 and, with that, picked up head coach Kyle Smith’s 300th win.
“That was a great, great win for us,” said Smith. “Our approach to competing and playing in a tight, close game was really healthy.”
As of this year, Price and Olajuwon are new additions to the Cardinal roster, alongside freshman guard Isaiah Rogers, and their impact was clear. Price scored the most points for the team against Eastern Washington, with 17, and also made four assists and two rebounds. Olajuwon put up 12 points and four rebounds and was only the second Stanford player within the last 10 years to record six steals in a game. Rogers pitched in by putting up 10 points, four assists and four rebounds. Together, the three freshmen played over 90 minutes and contributed over half of the team’s points.
“[The freshmen] were the group that really helped us,” said Coach Smith after the game.
The men’s basketball team will return to Maples to face Oakland (0-1, 0-0 HL) this Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.