The Rustler men's basketball team had their work cut out for them in their season home-opener. November 8 and 9 was the "Rustler Run & Gun Classic", a combined CWC men's and women's basketball classic that welcomed six visiting schools (three men's teams, three women's teams) to Riverton for a total of eight games that were spread out over this past Friday and Saturday.

Salt Lake Community College was one of the men's teams that made the trip to Fremont County, and Central Wyoming was set to take on the number seven nationally-ranked Bruins Friday night. Salt Lake's roster was headlined by 6-9 TCU-commit Xavier Edmonds, which a crucial part of the game plan was to shut him down. And the Rustlers executed in that area, holding Edmonds to five points on 12.5% shooting. This outstanding defensive performance also allowed CWC to hold the whole Bruins team to 22.7% from three point range and kept the game close at half time, with the Rustlers only trailing by six going into the break. But a slew of turnovers in the second half that led to transition points for SLCC eventually widened the margin. Salt Lake eventually pulled away and secured a 73-45 victory. 

Saturday afternoon the Rustlers faced the Utah Rebels, a prep basketball team based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was obvious from the tip-off that head coach Pat Rafferty and his squad were ready to right the boat and secure their first home win of the season. CWC's stalwart defense came to play and held the Rebels to seven first half points. The Rustlers took care of business in the second half as well, with Julian Ormond, Jordan Peel and Malachi Kopman all reaching double digit points. A good amount of the Rustler's reserves saw playing time as well, and Central Wyoming pulled out their first win of the season in Riverton, 58-27. 

The Rustlers will play Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana on Monday afternoon, and then will travel to Twin Falls, Idaho to participate at a tournament hosted by College of Southern Idaho on November 15 and 16.