The Greg McDermott era for ISU basketball started off well Friday night when the Cyclones defeated the EA Sports All-Stars, 58-57.

The Cyclones trailed in the final minute after an EA Sports 3-pointer put the All-Stars ahead 57-55, but Rahshon Clark answered with a three of his own off a beautiful assist from freshman forward Wesley Johnson with just 19 seconds to play.

“Wesley had the ball and penetrated and I just found an opening,” Clark said. “The time was running down, and I knew the shot was good as soon as it left my fingers.”

Clark and Johnson combined for 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Cyclones while another freshman, guard Dodie Dunson, led the Cyclones in scoring with 14 points.

Coach Greg McDermott said he couldn’t have scripted a better first game, which saw six players log their first minutes in a Cyclone uniform.

“It couldn’t have happened any better for us to play a team that played with a little bit of discipline,” McDermott said. “Too often these [exhibition] teams play a lot of up-and-down offense and don’t have much of a plan on defense, but this team was a little different in that regard.”

McDermott was also pleased with the way the team handled the adversity in the closing seconds.

“You can simulate that [last-second shots] in practice, but it’s difficult to do,” McDermott said. “And I didn’t take a time-out late on purpose to see how the players would handle it and Wesley Johnson, to his credit, made a great play finding Rahshon [Clark].”

Johnson showed signs of having a bright future and was one of the Cyclone freshmen that performed well in their first test. Johnson shot 4-of-11 from the floor and nailed a 3-pointer for the first points of the year for the Cyclones at just under four minutes into the game, but admitted after the game that he was nervous.

“Early this morning I was ready to go out and play, but as game time closed in, I felt the butterflies,” Johnson said. “This being my first college game and all, I wanted to win.”

The win was a measure of revenge for the Cyclones, who lost to EA Sports last year, 64-57.

Even though the game, as an exhibition, won’t count toward Iowa State’s record, the Cyclones approached the contest like a normal regular-season game.

“We didn’t see it as an exhibition game at all,” Clark said. “It was a competitive game, and we took it just as seriously as a regular season game. We always want to win.”

The Cyclones and their fans opened the newly renovated Hilton Coliseum in style with the victory. The crowd was treated to a new hanging scoreboard that features eight different video boards as well as animated advertisements.

A new ribbon scoreboard that is mounted on the upper concourse facade was also added during the offseason as were new seats for fans, giving the arena a new feel.

“I loved it, the crowd being into it was great – especially in Cyclone Alley,” Johnson said.

“They were into it the whole game and it was a good feeling.”

The Cyclones will wrap up their exhibition season with a contest against Wayne State, who McDermott was coached from 1995-2000, on Monday at 7 p.m. The regular season opens Friday night when the Cyclones take on University of California-Riverside to open the American Family Insurance BTI Cyclone Challenge.