Junior forward CooXooEii Black recorded a double-double and freshman guard Aaron Acosta scored eight consecutive points during a pivotal second-half surge as the Colorado College men's basketball team opened the 2018-19 season with an 81-68 victory over Iowa Wesleyan University on Friday night at Reid Arena.

Black led CC with 13 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Acosta and junior guard Sean Stem reached double-digit points with 12 and 10, respectively.

Acosta scored eight consecutive points as Colorado College exploded for a 17-3 run during the opening minutes of the second half. He hit a pair of three-pointers and scored on a layup to help his team build a 48-35 lead with a little more than 14 minutes to play.

After Austin Rebel sank a pair of free throws to cut IWU's deficit to 11 points with 11:57 to play, CC utilized a 10-2 run to build its largest lead of the contest when junior guard Eric Jonas buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 9:14 to go.

Iowa Wesleyan trimmed Colorado College's lead to 11 on three different occasions, but each time CC responded before the visitors could build on their momentum.

Following a jumper by Austin Banks that pulled IWU to within 70-59 with 4:34 to play, the hosts put the game away with an 8-1 run.

Sixteen players saw action for Colorado College, including nine of the 12 newcomers.

CC's freshman combined for 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Despite trailing early by as many as four points early in the game, Iowa Wesleyan built a 25-17 lead when Alberto Torres connected on a three-pointer with 7:49 remaining to play before the break.

However, Stem scored five points and freshman guard Scott Cunningham connected from behind the arc as Colorado College countered with a 14-5 surge and re-claim the lead on Black's layup with 27 seconds to go.

Mark Cannon hit a jumper with four seconds on the clock to give Iowa Wesleyan its final lead at 32-31 after 20 minutes.

Rebel led IWU with 14 points and nine rebounds.

In the first game of the tournament, Jontrell Herman and Andrew Romero combined for 58 points to lead Johnson & Wales University to an 85-81 victory over the University of Wisconsin River Falls.

Herman connected 11 of 18 shots from the floor, including five of six from behind the arc, and finished with 34 points. The senior guard also led the Wildcats with eight rebounds.

Senior forward Austin Heidecker led the Falcons with 20 points and a game-high 14 boards.

The Tiger Tip-Off Tournament continues on Saturday when Johnson & Wales takes on Iowa Wesleyan at 5 p.m. Colorado College plays host to UW-River Falls in the tournament finale at 7 p.m.