BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team spread the wealth offensively as the Garnet Chargers continued their early-season winning ways on Saturday night with a dominant 78-45 victory over Sarah Lawrence College.
 
First-year Matthew Garside led all players with 12 points to go with three steals for Union (2-0). He was joined in double figures by senior Edward Baptiste and sophomore Aren Cummings with 10 points apiece as 11 different players had at least one basket for the visitors.
 
Union shot 51.5 percent (17 of 33) during a dominant first half, as the visitors outscored the home team by a 43-15 margin to take a commanding lead. Baptiste and Garside led the team with eight points each at the break.
 
Senior Connor Cepiel opened the scoring with a three-pointer and Union never trailed in the opening half, building up an early 7-2 lead following buckets by Baptiste and first-year Jack Plesser. The Garnet Chargers took control with a 22-2 run over the span of 8:25 midway through the half, as the visitors limited the Gryphons to 1-of-12 shooting with six turnovers while hitting 8-of-15 shots from the field. Senior Luke McGarrity led the team with seven points during the run.
 
Sarah Lawrence lowered the deficit to 21 (52-31) with 11:29 to go in the second stanza, but a 15-4 run, capped by a three from sophomore Christian Dufort, quickly bumped the lead over 30 points at 67-35 with 6:25 on the clock. The advantage ballooned to as many as 39 points after a three by first-year Cameron Perez put Union up 78-39 with 1:02 remaining in the contest before the Gryphons closed with six straight points.
 
Union finished the evening shooting 49.2 percent (30 of 61) from the field and a red-hot 61.5 percent (8 of 13) from beyond the arc. Sarah Lawrence was limited to 27.5 percent (19 of 69) shooting, including a 3-of-24 effort (12.5 percent) from long range.
 
Union will return to action on Tuesday with a non-conference contest at SUNY Cobleskill beginning at 7 p.m.