ATLANTA -- Coming off the high of facing Kentucky last week in an exhibition contest, Miles had to get down to business as the regular season portion of its schedule commenced Saturday night against Oakwood in the Gateway Invitational.

While the Ambassadors played tough, Miles was able to secure a wire-to-wire 81-69 win at Gateway Arena. The Golden Bears (1-0) forced 21 turnovers and turned them into 22 points and Roger Davis scored a game-high 23 points en route to a third consecutive season-opening victory.

Miles scored 10 consecutive points before the first media timeout, punctuated by 3-pointers from Yasim Hooker and Mykayle Carter, to take an early 18-7 lead. Two free throws from Patrick Rucker pushed the lead to 14 points with 8:26 left in the half but the last five minutes before halftime were ugly. The Golden Bears missed 6-of-9 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free throws while turning the ball over four times that allowed the Ambassadors to cut the deficit to 41-38 at the break.

Oakwood would cut the deficit to a single point at the start of the second half but Miles would go on a 10-2 run, paced by seven points from Josh Hill, to open a 52-43 lead less than four minutes after halftime. The Ambassadors kept coming, cutting the deficit to five points with just less than 11 minutes remaining. But the Golden Bears used another strong run, outscoring Oakwood 11-3 over the next four minutes, Anthony Fairley's dunk was the exclamation point on the run that gave Miles a 71-58 advantage with 7:44 left.

Twice, the Ambassadors would get to within eight points but Davis had an answer each time, draining one of his game-high three 3-pointers with six-and-a-half minutes left, then hitting a midrange jumper with 3:50 on the clock. Both shots would push the lead back into double figures and ultimately, finished off any further comeback attempts.

Xa'Zavier Jones (14 points), Edmen Stewart (12) and Judelin Prophet (11) each scored in double figures for Oakwood. Fairley (13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks) and Hill (12 points, eight rebounds) were big contributors for Miles, which hosts Edward Waters on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.