WHAT'S AHEAD...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season Friday at the CCA D2 Tip-Off Classic in Los Angeles, Calif. The men are slated to face non-conference opponents in California Baptist, UC-Colorado Springs, and Western Washington.

In their first game of the season, the Dragons will face the No. 11-ranked Lancers of California Baptist on Friday at 8:15 p.m. CT. CBU is picked to win their conference in a near-unanimous vote as they picked up 13 of 14 possible first-place votes in the poll. The Lancers finished the 2014-15 season at 26-7 and will return eight athletes from last years team, one of them being senior guard Gelaun Wheelwright. Wheelwright was named the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year for the 15-16 season and finished last year averaging 17.6 points per game.

Aside from Wheelwright, the Lancers return two other seniors who had significant roles on last years team in forward Trevone Williams and forward Taj Spencer. Williams averaged 7.1 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. He also posted a .399 shooting percentage from the floor and was .315 from three-point range. Spencer led last years team in rebounds with 7.2 per game which placed him at eighth best in the PacWest. He was also second on the team with 12.4 points per game and earned All-PacWest honors for his play. Junior guard Michael Smith returns to the Lancer lineup after putting up 11.3 points per game placing him at fourth best on the team and 5.6 boards per game, second best on the team. The Lancers welcome six newcomers to their squad this season and are under third year head coach Rick Croy's leadership. Croy has led his teams to a 50-11 overall record in his two seasons at the helm of the program.

On Saturday evening the Dragons will face the Mountain Lions of UC-Colorado Springs with an 11 a.m. tipoff. The Mountain Lions were picked to finish fifth in their conference in the coaches' preseason poll. Senior guard Alex Welsh picked up honors as well as he was named to the RMAC All-Preseason team. Welsh averaged 16.3 points per game last season and shot .561 from the field. Junior guard TreShawn Wilford was a huge contributor to the 2014-15 team and will return this year after posting 6.7 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. The Mountain Lions will bring back senior forward Dalton Patten who played in every game last season and ended the year averaging 6.8 points per game shooting .558. Jeff Culver returns for the third season as head coach of the Mountain Lions after leading UCCS to their most successful season two years ago. He is 53-36 at UCCS, and made the largest turnaround for any NCAA Division II men's basketball program bringing the team from 5-21 in 2012-13 to 21-9 in 2013-14.

In the third and final game of the tournament, the Dragons will face No. 15-ranked Western Washington University who returns four starters and five letter winners from the 2014-15 squad. The game will take place at 8:15 p.m. Tony Dominguez returns for his fourth season with the Vikings and holds an overall record of 71-22.

Junior forward Jeffrey Parker had 15.6 points per game and shot 43.4 percent from three-point range. Parker was name to the Second GNAC All-Star Team. Also returning to the lineup is senior guard Ricardo Maxwell who put up 15.0 points, 3.9 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game which earned him a place on the Second GNAC All-Star team. Senior center Mac Johnson and senior point guard Harris Javier will be huge contributors to this years team. Javier was ranked 11th nationally in assists-to-turnover ration last season and Johnson shot an outstanding 61.2 from the field.

NOTEBALES...

 The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team has been selected to finish second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference according to a poll of the league's coaches released this week. The Dragons were picked to win the NSIC North Division for the third straight year, while senior center Isaac Sevlie was selected as the NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year. The Dragons were also  ranked ninth in the NABC/Division II preseason coaches poll. MSUM was 35-4 a year ago and qualified for the NCAA Division II Elite 8 for the first time in school history. The Dragons were ranked fourth in the final NABC poll last spring and return three starters and seven letterwinners from the 2014-15 team.