SAN DIEGO – Fresno Pacific opened the 2014-15 campaign Friday with an 87-67 win over Saint Martin's at the PacWest/GNAC Conference Challenge hosted by Point Loma. The Sunbirds led from start-to-finish and used a 19-3 run in the second half to earn the victory at Golden Gymnasium.

Madison Higgins led the Sunbirds (1-0) with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting, which included a five-of-six mark from three. Jeff Amazan chipped in with 18 points, while Oliver Herting finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in his freshman debut as a Sunbird.

FPU outrebounded St. Martin's (0-1) 46-35 as Trevon Clayton led the charge on the boards with 18 rebounds.

The Sunbirds shot .541 as a team from the floor compared to the Saint's .373. FPU had five players in double-figures, as Roger Paul facilitated the offense with five assists and also scored 11 points. Gabe Solarin was the final player in double-digits with 10 points.

The Sunbirds led 37-33 at halftime behind Higgins' 18 points. FPU held a 53-51 advantage with 12 minutes remaining before the 19-3 stretch made the difference. The run was started by a Solarin jumper and capped off by an Amazan three to make the score 72-54 with 5:58 remaining.

"I'm very proud of the group," said head coach Shane Rinner. "We learned how to play together tonight. The 19 assists we had, for a team that had two returners, is a credit to their commitment to each other. We had many make big plays at crucial times including freshmen Oliver Herting. We play a veteran team in Western Oregon tomorrow, which will take a monster effort for us to get a win."

FPU continues action tomorrow in the challenge against Western Oregon at 2 p.m.