FULLERTON – Addy G'Bye and Nick Hopkins combined for 53 points to spur Hope International men's basketball to a 98-68 victory against Bethesda in the 2025-26 season opener on Tuesday at Darling Pavilion.

G'Bye starred in his Royal debut, scoring 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three-point land. He added five rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.

Hopkins notched 23 points in 24 minutes of action, pulling down 10 rebounds for a double-double. He matched G'Bye for shooting efficiency – also at 10-of-14 from the field.

No other Royal scored in double figures. CJ Fisher added eight points. Jorren Edmonds contributed five rebounds, five assists and five steals to go along with six points.

HIU shot a solid 51.4 (36-of-70) percent from the floor and limited the Flames to 39.3 (24-of-61) percent efficiency.

Camron Durr led the Flames with 16 points.

After a relatively close first half which had the Royals leading 45-38 going into the locker room, the home team increased its aggressiveness in the final 20 minutes to pull away.

The Flames hit the first basket of the second half to pull within five, but the Royals responded with a 13-0 run as Hopkins got inside for eight of those points.

The lead hovered around 20 points for several minutes, and HIU eventually upped the margin to 26 points on a Fisher layup at the 8:38 mark.

Colin Weems made two free throws to give HIU an 87-56 lead with 7:22 to go. HIU cruised to victory with Hopkins scoring 15 of his 23 points in the second half.

The Royals trailed 21-12 midway through the first half when G'Bye sank the first of three triples to bring HIU within six. G'Bye finished the first half with 20 points on an array of moves, and hit 5-of-7 free throws as well.

HIU outscored Bethesda 33-17 over the final 11:38 to create the seven-point halftime lead.

The Royals return to the floor on Wednesday, November 5 against Stanton at Darling Pavilion. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.