Utah clubs Long Island in Strickland’s coaching debut

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Branden Carlson scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds, Ben Carlson had 11 rebounds and Utah beat Long Island 89-49 in a season opener Monday night.

Lazar Stefanovic’s 3-pointer with 11:09 left in the first half put the Utes up 20-9 before extending the margin to 27-11 when Wilguens Exacte Jr. made a 3 almost four minutes later.

Long Island fought back and used a 13-2 spurt to get within 29-24 when C.J. Delancy made a layup with 3:52 before intermission. But the Utes countered with a 13-4 outburst to close the half and were never threatened again.

Tre Wood scored 11 points for Long Island and Cheikh Ndiaye 10.

The game marked the debut of first-year Sharks head coach Rod Strickland who spent 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association from the 1988-89 season to 2004-05.

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