Texas opened play at the 25th annual Best of West tournament with a 61-33 win over host San Diego.  "It was the first time the Stampede had traveled this year and we had a lot of questions to answer" said coach James Gumbert.  Game 1 was led behind Aussie Chris Bond (19 points) and veteran Bryan Kirkland (18 points). Their one two punch helped the burnt orange clad men jump out to a 18-8 first quarter and they never looked back. 

Game 2 had the Stampede squaring off against the emerging Serra Storm. The game featured transfer Mike Schacherbauer (4 points) and longtime Stampede member Mark Zupan.(13 points). Zupan who has been away from the sport said "it was like riding a bike". He and the rest of the Stampede had a quick start of 32-20 at the half and peddled their way on to a 61-37 victory.

"It was a good start" said Gumbert "we got some answers today and look to try and capitalize on these games and use them to focus on our matches we have tomorrow". 

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