Shawn Christian led all scorers with 28 points and Jordan Forbes came within one rebound of a triple-double as Salem University opened its 2020-21 men's basketball season with a 96-77 victory over West Virginia Tech Sunday at Beckley, W.Va. Forbes pulled down nine rebounds to go with 23 points and a career-high 13 assists.
 
Salem (1-0) built a 9-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the contest and scored on each of its first four possessions as the Tigers led wire-to-wire. West Virginia Tech drew as close as four points before Christian and Forbes combined for three consecutive three-pointers to build the lead to 31-14 with 9:43 left in the first half. The lead grew to as many as 22 points and the Tigers went into the locker room with a 50-31 halftime advantage.
 
West Virginia Tech (0-2) connected on eight of its first nine 3-point attempts and cut Salem's lead to single digits at 69-60 with exactly 11 minutes remaining in the contest. Fonz Hale answered with a three-pointer and then made a steal on the Golden Bears' next possession to spark an 11-0 Salem run as the margin again reached the 20-point mark with 8:15 left. The Tigers' lead never fell below 15 points the rest of the way.
 
Hale finished with 17 points, while Barron Tanner added nine points and seven rebounds in his Tiger debut. Christian matched a career high with eight 3-pointers in 12 attempts. He also had eight 3's in last year's season-opening win at West Virginia Wesleyan. Aleksa Dobrijevid had a game-high three blocked shots along with seven points and seven rebounds in his first game as a Tiger. Stan Smith added seven points and D'Montez Owens pulled down six boards as Salem outrebounded West Virginia Tech 39-32.
 
The Tigers were 13-for-26 from beyond the arc and shot 55.2 percent (37-for-67) from the floor overall.
 
Andreas Jonsson led four Golden Bears in double figures with 19 points.
 
Salem is idle until November 17 when the Tigers travel to Lincoln University (Pa.). Salem plays host to West Virginia Tech November 24 in the Tigers' home opener. Spectators will not be permitted at home games at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Sunday's contest at West Virginia Tech was played without spectators.