Junior forward Tad Dickman (Springfield, Va., Robert E. Lee) scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to a 73-52 victory over St. John Fisher College in the opening game of the Beck Company Classic in Newport News, Va. on Friday evening. St. John Fisher had received votes in the d3hoops.com national preseason poll.

After allowing the first basket of the game, the Eagles scored 10 straight to take a 10-2 advantage with 15:12 remaining in the first. The Eagles upped the lead to 13 at 23-10 with 6:35 left on a Henry Brisibe (South Riding, Va., Freedom) three point play, and led by as many as 18 on a Ryan Farrar (Ashburn, Va., Centreville, Va.) three pointer before settling on a 35-23 halftime advantage.

UMW saw its lead slip to single digits to start the second half, but built the lead to as many as 22, at 71-49 with 2:44 remaining. A Dickman layup with 1:07 capped the scoring for the Eagles, who shot 41% from the floor, including 10 three pointers, while limiting St. John Fisher to 31%.

The Eagles led in points in the paint, 14-10, and points off turnovers, 15-4. UMW held a 14-9 edge in bench scoring. In addition to Dickman's 20 and 10, Farrar scored 12 points on 4-8 three point shooting, and freshman Walt Smith (Alexandria, Va., T.C. Williams) had 14 points, five assists, and three steals.

The Eagles will face Lynchburg College on Saturday in game three of the classic at 5:30 p.m.