LIBERAL -- Thursday night, for the first time in a couple of days, Garden City Community College coach Kris Baumann cracked a smile.

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Garden City Community College forward Tyrone Flemming dunks the ball during the first quarter of the Broncbusters season-opener on Thursday night at the Seward County Community College 2007 Pepsi Classic in Liberal.

His team had just looked impressive in a 94-77 win over Carl Albert State College, sure, but it was more than that.

"To be honest, I feel like I'm pretty good at feeling out how good my team is going to be," Baumann said. "With this group, I wasn't sure. There was no sense of what was going to happen."

Jordan Ragan scored 26 points to go with five assists, and was one of four Broncbusters in double figures as Garden City rolled to a 94-77 past the Vikings to open its season with a win at the Seward Classic.

Corey Claitt added 23 points and eight rebounds for Garden City, and Sterling Linc posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double in his first game for the Broncbusters. Tyrone Flemming added 15 points and seven rebounds in the win.

"We had a lot of stuff going on, off-court stuff that we couldn't control," Claitt said. "So before the game we all got together and recognized that we're all we've got, and that we've got to be a family and stand together."

It was the end of a tumultuous 48 hours for Garden City after heralded freshman Chris Roquemore, a 6-foot-8 power forward, was suspended for three games for a violation of team rules, and Baumann decided to redshirt another top recruit, point guard Daniel Bryant.

Ragan, who signed with New Mexico State out of high school, found out he was going to play on Wednesday afternoon after Baumann made his decision about Bryant. Ragan had practiced for the last month with the understanding he would redshirt this year and Bryant would be the team's starting point guard.

"All at once, I had to get mentally focused not just for this game, but for the season," Ragan said. "I thought we executed will tonight. I figured (Carl Albert) was going to run a zone so I knew I was going to get some shots."

Carl Albert kept it close in the first half, and trailed just 43-39 at halftime before a 14-2 Garden City run early in the second half pushed the lead to 59-46. The Vikings clawed their way back to within six points at 69-63 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Derrick Tarvin and Ragan pushed the Buster lead back to 12 points and sparked a 17-2 run capped by a monstrous dunk by Linc for an 86-65 lead with just under 3:00 to play.

"I thought Jordan played really, really well tonight," Baumann said. "He played like a sophomore point guard should. Sterling had a good game, too, and when he gets those big dunks and blocks shots that really gives us a boost."

Linc had three blocks, all of which turned into transition baskets for the Busters.

"I feel like we have so man big guys, we can just keep bringing guys in and pounding teams," Linc said. "What really helped us tonight, I thought, was our excellent guard play. I blocked some shots, but there are a lot of things I could have done better."

Martez Howard came off the bench to lead Carl Albert with 16 points.

Garden City (1-0 overall, 0-0 league) continues play at the Seward Classic today at 4 p.m. against the Sterling College J.V. and Saturday against Seward County.

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GCCC 94, CARL ALBERT 77

CARL ALBERT (0-1, 0-0): Howard 6-10 1-3 16, Parks 1-5 2-4 4, Ernsteins 2-5 3-4 8, Lee 6-11 1-2 15, Omar 3-9 1-2 8, Byam 7-11 0-0 15, Koe 2-3 0-0 4, Alexander 3-7 1-1 7, Edmonds 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 9-16 77.

GCCC (1-0, 0-0): Flemming 5-8 5-8 15, Ragan 9-16 3-4 26, Claitt 10-16 1-2 23, Ottley 0-1 0-0 0, Link 7-12 0-0 14, McNabb 0-1 0-1 0, Young 1-2 0-0 2, Tarvin 3-7 0-1 7, Baird 0-2 0-0 0, White 2-5 0-0 4, Brown 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 38-74 9-20 94.

Halftime--GCCC 43-39. 3-Point Goals--Carl Albert 8-23 (Howard 3-6, Lee 2-3, Omar 1-6, Ernsteins 1-2, Parks 0-3, Alexander 0-1, Edmonds 0-1), GCCC 9-20 (Ragan 5-9, Claitt 2-4, Tarvin 1-3, Young 1-1, Flemming 0-2, McNabb 0-1). Fouled Out--Byam, Carl Albert. Rebounds--Carl Albert 28 (Byam 7), GCCC 51 (Link 11, Claitt 8). Assists--Carl Albert 14 (Parks, Omar, Kote 3), GCCC 15 (Ragan 5). Total Fouls--Carl Albert 19, GCCC 17.