THIS WEEK IN GRIFFON MEN'S BASKETBALL
Friday, Nov. 1, 7:45 p.m. vs. No. 9 Southern Nazarene
Saturday, Nov. 2, 7:45 p.m. vs. No. 22 Daemen College
 
ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Men's Basketball opens the 2019-20 season at St. Joseph Civic Arena this week in the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic presented by Hillyard Inc. Missouri Western is set to face No. 9 Southern Nazarene on Friday and No. 22 Daemen College on Saturday.
 
This weekend's classic includes five teams ranked in the NABC NCAA DII Preseason Rankings and four in the top-10. It's the second consecutive year St. Joseph has hosted the event. Games begin both days at 1 p.m. and continue until the Griffons wrap up action on Friday and Saturday with 7:45 p.m. tips. The basketball action comes after the induction of the 2019 Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame class on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the historic Missouri Theater.
 
PREVIEWING THE GRIFFONS
 

• Last year in the SCB Hall of Fame Classic, the Griffons played Tarleton State and lost 78-76. In the next day's game, the Griffs beat Fairmont State 80-73, giving Sundance Wicks his first win with the program.
• This go around could see up to eight new Griffons in the rotation, including redshirt freshmen Zach Anderson and Will Eames.
• Tyrell Carroll became the first freshman in program history to earn MIAA honors, receiving honorable mention.
• 11 of the team's 16 losses last year were by less than 10 points, including one two-point loss at Washburn and another two-point loss at Northwest Missouri, the top two finishers in the MIAA.
• Missouri Western was also 7-7 on the road. Those seven road wins were the most in a season for the Griffs since 2012-13.
• For the second straight year, the Griffons will open a season with four straight games at Civic Arena. Next weekend, the team hosts the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic downtown St. Joe.

 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
 

• The Crimson Storm is coming off a 29-6 season in which they lost to Northwest Missouri in the NCAA regional tournament. A rematch of that game will be held at the SCB Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Southern Nazarene also won both the Great American Conference regular season championship and tournament championship last season.
• In the regular season, Southern Nazarene went 3-0 against MIAA-member schools: Washburn, Nebraska-Kearney, and Central Oklahoma.
• They return three of their five starters from last year, two of the three returners finished in the top three of scoring for the Crimson Storm in 2018-19.
• Their leader in total points last year was Jhonathan Dunn. He averaged 31.6 minutes per game, field goal percentage of 45% (35% from 3-point range) and averaged 17.6 points per game.

 
SCOUTING DAEMEN COLLEGE
 

• The Wildcats finished last season with a 24-6 record. They lost in the opening round of the NCAA Regional to New Haven, 72-67.
• Daemen College also won the East Coast Conference regular season championship last season.
• They played at the University of Buffalo and at Syracuse University in two exhibition games prior to coming to St. Joseph.
• Daemen returns four of five starters from last year. Andrew Sischo is the reigning Conference Player of the Year as well as Division II East Region Player of the Year.
• Sischo tallied 17 double-doubles last year, leading the ECC and ranking sixth in the nation. He registered double-doubles in the exhibition games at Buffalo and Syracuse.

 
The Griffons will head back to the Civic Arena next weekend as they will host the Hillyard Classic. They will play Minnesota State Moorhead on Nov. 8 and University of Minnesota Crookston on Nov. 9.