The LeMoyne-Owen College Mens basketball team got their first taste of competition this past weekend in the teams annual Alumni Game. 

The Magicians have big shoes to fill this season with the loss of 2021-2022 SIAC Defensive player of the year Jaquan Lawrence. The Magicians also lost starters Trevor Blackmon, and Dwight Murray who were both top 5 scorers for the Magicians last season.

The Magicians started the game with Tariq Shepherd, Andrew Anderson, Micah Evans, Gjerard Wilson and Sam Ibeh. The team got off to a slow start and traded baskets with the Alumni team for the first several minutes of the game. By halftime the Magicians were up 58-37 and had control of the game. 

In the second half, the Magicians would outscore the Alumni 44-40 and cruise to a 102-77 win. 

Gjerard Wilson led the Magicians with 22 points, while Rasul Bulu, led the Alumni team with 27 points.

"I've known most of these guys for a long time and we knew they were going to come out and play tough", said Magicians assistant coach Wade Evans.

The Magicians will take the court again October 29th at Bruce-Johnson Hall in their Homecoming game against Xavier (La). The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm