CANTON -- The SUNY Canton men’s basketball team kicked off their 2011-12 season on Saturday playing their first ever home game in the college’s new athletic facility and the Roos had a successful debut with an 82-43 win over SUNY ESF.

The Roos used their own excitement of finally having a home court and they played off the energy of the several hundred people in attendance to post their second straight win over the Mighty Oaks in as many years.

“It was phenomenal to finally play an actual home game,” said third-year head coach Keith Sullivan. “You could feel the energy in the locker room before the game and our guys just fed off the energy of the crowd all game long.”

SUNY Canton scored the first eight points of the game, six of those coming off layups as the Roos attacked ESF from the opening tip off. After the Mighty Oaks trimmed the lead in half with four straight points of their own, freshman forward Timothy Taylor (New York, N.Y.) made a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup that started a 16-10 run and stretched the home team’s advantage to a double-digit lead. The Roos forced six turnovers and outscored ESF 23-7 over the final nine minutes of the opening half to take a 47-21 lead into the locker room.

The Roos held a sizeable advantage throughout the final 20 minutes allowing Sullivan to go deep into his bench. “Our young players got a lot of experience today and it was great to get everyone some minutes," said Sullivan. "We played very athletically and got our hands on a lot of balls and tipped a bunch of passes.”

The Roos made 15 steals in the game and held the Mighty Oaks to just 33 percent shooting from the field. SUNY Canton shot 41 percent from the floor and held a 53-28 rebounding advantage.

Taylor led the Roos with 21 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Vonallen Pickett (Brooklyn, N.Y.) provided a spark off the bench scoring 12 points in just 14 minutes. Freshman Tyler Ellison (New York, N.Y.) also provided solid minutes off the bench with 11 points and three steals. Junior guard Ryan Lamica (Constable, N.Y.) added eight points, five rebounds and four assists and junior forward and co-captain Irvin Cato (New York, N.Y.) contributed seven points and five boards.

Tim Hornstein scored 11 points and handed out four assists to lead the Mighty Oaks and Josh Puzan and Andy LaPolt had seven points apiece.

SUNY Canton is next in action on Nov. 15 when they host Keuka College at 7 p.m.