TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (January 5, 2019) - The No. 5 Salt Lake Community College men's basketball team knew that all of the preseason success for their program would mean nothing if they couldn't get off to a good start in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

The Bruins thought of that message all week, motivating them as they prepared for their league opener at No. 13 College of Southern Idaho Saturday. SLCC made sure that Scenic West play was started off right, with Salt Lake earning a 100-91 victory over the Golden Eagles. The victory lifts Salt Lake's overall record to 14-3 and 1-0 in league play. The victory was also the eighth time SLCC has scored over 100 points.

"Tonight was a big win for the Bruins," said Salt Lake coach Todd Phillips. "We had great composure of fighting through their runs. It was a great team win."

Salt Lake held a 53-43 halftime lead, thanks to defensive efficiency that featured forcing turnovers; in fact, SLCC held a 23-12 edge in points-off-turnovers. Even with the defensive success, Salt Lake struggled to establish pace offensively early in the game, trailing for the first ten minutes of the game. However, Matt Lindsey tied the game at 27-27 with 9:32 left, and SLCC wouldn't trail from that point in the game. While both teams would make runs throughout the remainder of the game, Salt Lake led by as many as 13 points early in the second half.

St. John's commit Cameron Mack had a massive performance, posting a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Josh Colon had a 20-point performance, while Washington State commit Daron Henson had 18 points. Asa McCord and Hunter Schofield both had 11 points.

SLCC will play its next league game Thursday, traveling to play at Colorado Northwestern. The Bruins will play their home league opener on Saturday, Jan. 12, as Salt Lake hosts in-state rival Snow College.