GOSHEN, Ind. — Austin Branagan scored a game-high 23 points, including 11 of the first 18, and Michael Bowers added 20 on 7-of-9 shooting Tuesday night in Goshen College's 78-69 men's basketball victory over the University of Northwestern Ohio.

Colton Noel added 11 points for the Maple Leafs (2-1), who got 7 rebounds from Bowers and a team-high 3 assists from Ben Cotton and Sheddrick Porter Jr. Noel also blocked a pair of shots and Bowers led the team with 3 steals.

Nathan Lessing led the Racers (0-1) with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Isaac Golson Jr. added 17 points and a team-high 2 assists. Justin Koepp led all players with 9 rebounds and Zach Montes added 3 steals.

UNOH shot 43 percent (23-of-54) from the floor and turned the ball over 21 times in its season opener. The Maple Leafs shot 44 percent (25-for-57) and added 22 free throws to UNOH's 18.

Each team committed 24 fouls.

Lessing opened the scoring with a bucket 15 seconds into the game for Northwestern Ohio: it would be the Racers' only lead of the night. Goshen tied the score through Branagan at the 19:06 mark and took the lead 47 seconds later, eventually going on a 20-1 run and holding the Racers without a field goal for almost 9 minutes. The lead peaked at 18 points with 1:05 left in the first half.

Going into the locker rooms at halftime, GC led 39-24; Branagan scored 13 points in the opening 20 minutes to come within two of his season high. UNOH shot 28 percent (7-for-25) in the first half.

The Racers scored the last basket before the half and quickly whittled the lead down to 8 with a 10-2 run to start the second stanza. Goshen responded with a 7-0 spurt to go up 15, but UNOH answered with 7 of its own to get within 55-47 at the 8:17 mark.

The visitors got as far back as 65-62 just inside the final 4 minutes, but GC responded with a Branagan 3-pointer to start an 11-1 run and put the game away.

The Maple Leafs are now idle until the weekend, when they host Trinity International in Gunden Gymnasium at 3 p.m. Saturday.