Rochester, Mich. - Oakland University???s men???s basketball team kicked off its 2002-03 season in fine fashion tonight, as junior Mike Helms (Detroit, Mich.) poured in 43 points to lead the Golden Grizzlies to a 118-85 exhibition win over GT Express. Helms got OU going right off the bat, scoring the Golden Grizzlies??? first five points of the game and 11 of the first 18 as OU raced out to an early nine point advantage on a Helms three-pointer five minutes in to the contest. Back-to-back treys by freshman John Floyd (Toledo, Ohio) and junior Alex Miller (Eden Prairie, Minn.) pushed the Oakland lead to 19 points at 35-16 at the 10:06 mark and the Golden Grizzlies never looked back. Led by Helms??? 10-of-13 shooting, OU scorched the nets in the first half for a 64.7 shooting percentage (22-of-34), taking a 64-40 lead at the half. Oakland did not cool off any in the second half, shooting above the 50 percent mark in the final 20 minutes as well, finishing the game with a 58.1 mark. The Golden Grizzly offensive output was too much for GT Express to handle as the visitors could only cut the halftime deficit to just 17 points early in the second half. Oakland gradually pulled away and pushed its lead to 31 points on a dunk by Kelly Williams (Detroit, Mich.) with 7:14 left. Helms finished the night hitting 13-of-20 shots, including 4-of-7 from long range. A pair of new faces on the team had impressive debuts, with Rawle Marshall (Detroit, Mich.) hitting 12-of-17 shots on his way to a 32-point performance. Floyd wound up with a double-double of 11 points and 11 assists. Pierre Dukes (Grand Blanc, Mich.) also scored in double figures for Oakland, dropping in 12 points. Jordan Sabourin (Sarnia, Ontario) led Oakland with eight rebounds. Troy Coleman led GT Express, scoring 23 points. Shannen Williams added a double-double for the visitors, getting 17 points and 11 rebounds. Oakland will open the regular season next week, hosting Spring Arbor College on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6:00 p.m.