The Iowa State men’s basketball team started off the 1999-2000 season with a strong showing, defeating Global Sports 87-76 Wednesday night.

“The first word that comes to mind is encouraging. This is a team that had UNLV beat, and they also defeated Oral Roberts and Creighton. Their guards are very strong, and I was proud of the way our kids played,” coach Larry Eustachy said.

The Cyclones were led by junior forward Marcus Fizer, who finished the contest with 26 points and 17 rebounds.

Fizer, who was aggressive and very impressive in the season debut, is an improved player in his coach’s mind.

“Marcus to me was a different player tonight. That’s the most rebounds he’s had in a long time, and he let the ball come to him. He’s really a product of his work ethic,” Eustachy said.

The Cyclones were also buoyed by the play of point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who finished the contest with 21 points, six steals, six rebounds and four assists.

His aggressive play also had its downfalls, as he collected eight turnovers and fouled out at the end of the game.

He gave the game a flair and an up-tempo pace that the club has not seen for a long time, and Eustachy knows that improvement must be made.

“I thought Jamaal played well. I think the eight turnovers and the five fouls were unacceptable, and I told him that. But he did a great job of keeping his man in front of him, and he made some plays,” Eustachy said.

Tinsley also was encouraged, but knows there is work to be done.

“I’m not where I need to be, but trust me, I’ll get there. We need to play together more to gel, and once we do that, we’ll be all right,” Tinsley said.

The Cyclones started off a bit slow, as they trailed 11-8 almost six minutes into the game.

The Cyclones were trailing 23-21 before ISU exploded, going on a 14-0 run that featured eight points from Tinsley, the junior from New York.

ISU went into the half with a seven-point lead at 43-36, and were led by Tinsley, who had 12 points.

Another impressive debut was put in by Brandon Hawkins, who was a point guard in high school, but saw some action at small forward for the team.

He flourished at the spot, grabbing five rebounds despite being one of the smaller guys on the floor.

“With the big guys [Paul Shirley and Martin Rancik] out, I’ve been playing there a lot. It’s my job at that spot to rebound, it’s in the scheme, so I was just doing my job,” Hawkins said.

Eustachy said the team needs to pick its play up if it is to compete at a high level.

“To play well at the level we need to, on a level of one to 10, we need to be at an eight.

“Tonight was about a three, but I was still encouraged by the new guards, and the way we played,” Eustachy said.

The Cyclones will next take on Simon Fraser, which is a collegiate team from Canada that plays in an American conference.

That will give the Cyclones an interesting loophole in the schedule.

“Because they play in a conference in the country, if we win, then it can be counted as a win. But if we lose, we can just say that it was an exhibition, and it doesn’t hurt us,” Eustachy said.

ISU will offer students free tickets again for that game, which will tip off Monday night at 7.