SPARTANBURG, S.C. – College basketball has officially returned in Spartanburg and the Wofford men's basketball team certainly made its presence felt, as the Terriers welcomed a spirited crowd back into Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in witnessing a season-opening rout over Bob Jones University (0-2, 0-0 NCCAA), 117-79, to collect its first win of the 2021-22 campaign on Tuesday evening. Wofford was lights out from the floor, finishing 65.8 percent overall, including hitting 16-of-25 from beyond the arc (64%), as six Terriers finished in double figures, led by a pair of career-high efforts from sophomore Max Klesmit and senior Ryan Larson with 23 and 19 points, respectively.

Wofford's 117 points mark the most the Terriers have recorded for a game at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, besting its previous century-mark record of 112 in a win over Kentucky Christian on Dec. 6, 2018. 
 
Klesmit, a sophomore guard from Neenah, Wisc., was 9-of-13 from the floor for the contest, while matching a career-best from beyond the arc, set in his Wofford debut at Texas A&M on Dec. 21, 2020 (4-for-9), in connecting on 4-of-6 shots from deep (66.7%).
 
Larson, a native of St. Paul, Minn., showcased his consistency from deep range after shooting 45.5 percent from 3-point land last season, finishing a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range on the night – marking a single-game high for threes made by the senior. Larson was 7-of-8 overall en route to his 19-point performance, as the junior also dished a game-high six assists and pulled down four rebounds to pair with three steals.
 
Klesmit and Larson went a combined 9-for-11 (81.8%) from beyond the arc to pace Wofford's prowess from deep, as the two mark the Terriers' returning 3-point leaders percentage-wise from the 2020-21 season.
 
The Terriers averaged 10.2 3-pointers per game last season, finishing seventh in the NCAA, as tonight's 16 threes mark the most since doing so in a 94-84 win against Samford on Jan. 2 (16-for-28, 57.1%).
 
Sophomore forward Sam Godwin additionally net a career-high with 17 points on 8-of-9 from the floor, including his first career 3-pointer, and four rebounds. Junior B.J. Mack was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, in addition to 3-of-3 from the charity stripe, to finish with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists
 
Freshmen and Golden State natives Austin Patterson and Luke Turner round out the Terriers' double-figure scorers, as Patterson reached a career-high 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Turner net 10 in his Wofford debut, including hitting 2-of-5 (40%) from beyond the arc, to pair with three assists and two steals.
 
Junior Isaiah Bigelow made an electric return after sitting out the 2020-21 season due to an ACL injury, corralling a pair of electrifying dunks en route to nearly recording a double-double in his first game since Mar. 9, 2020, with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Sophomore Keaton Turner recorded nine points, three rebounds and two assists, while David Appelgren chipped in four points and three rebounds, followed by freshman Corey Tripp with two points and a steal.
 
Wofford dished 22 assists as a team, seeing all 11 Terriers score on the evening, as eight different Terriers recorded made threes in the contest. While the team was blistering hot from outside, the Terriers also finished with 64 points in the paint to Bob Jones' 28.
 
"We wanted to score in the paint," said head coach Jay McAuley of the team's approach. "We had 64 points in the paint. We obviously want to do work on the glass. We outrebounded them by 20."
 
Additionally, Wofford received 53 points from its bench throughout the contest.
 
The Terriers dominated on the glass with a plus-20 rebounding margin, 37-17, while forcing 16 turnovers, including 10 steals, in return for 30 points on the Bruins for the game.
 
Wofford led for 39:30 of the contest, pushing leads as large as 45 points for the game through the second half. The Terriers connected on 25-of-34 shots (73.5%) over the opening 20 minutes, highlighted by a 10-for-15 outing (66.7%) from three, to boost a 33-point cushion at halftime, 63-30.
 
Despite the score differential, the Bruins managed to finish shooting steady percentages on the night at 49.1 percent (27-of-55), 40.9 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-22) and 80 percent from the free-throw line (16-for-20). Bob Jones had three finish in double figures, led by Henry Blair with 25 points and Devin Dean and Daniel Fuller with 13 and 11, respectively.
 
"Their 3-pointers [of having nine] was a little bit too many there. But we've got a lot to learn. A lot of young guys got their feet wet and a lot to look forward to," added McAuley.
 
The Terriers lone struggle on the night was a 5-for-11 (45.5%) showing from the line and a slight uptick in turnovers later in the contest to finish with 14 for night.
 
"We had some silly turnovers there late that I think really skewed that number," added McAuley of the assist/turnover total for the game. "But 22 assists, that's fantastic. Guys were playing inside-out, sharing the ball by committee. We'll need to do that to be efficient and be dangerous this year."
 
Wofford (1-0, 0-0 SoCon) prepares next for its first test of the season, traveling to face the ACC's Clemson on Friday, Nov. 12, in Clemson, S.C. Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Littlejohn Coliseum to be streamed on the ACC Digital Network Extra.