LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Basketball is BACK! Biola Men's Basketball begins the season at home, beginning Friday, by hosting the PacWest/CCAA Crossover tournament.

THIS WEEK: vs CSU San Marcos (0-0) - Friday Nov. 9 at 1:00 p.m.; vs CSU Los Angeles (0-0) - Saturday Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be provided free of charge for all Biola home contests, including all four tournament games this week.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. For away game ticket information, see the note below each preview.

BIOLA (0-0) vs. CSU SAN MARCOS (0-0): Friday Nov. 9 at 1:00 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola kicks off the 2018-19 season with the same opponent it began last season with. CSU San Marcos and Biola have met six times over the course of history, and it's been a toss-up, with both teams winning three games head-to-head. CSUSM has the current winning streak of one game, getting an 84-57 win in that matchup last season. The Cougars went on to a 20-9 overall record after getting bounced in the first round of the CCAA Tournament by San Francisco State. CSUSM is coached by a Dr. Dave Holmquist protege, BJ Foster. Foster spent 2007-13 at Biola as coach Holmquist's lead assistant. He moved on the by the lead assistant at CSUSM for three years before landing the head coaching job. Coincidentally enough, his head coach for those first three seasons at CSUSM was Jim Saia, who is here this weekend as the head coach at CSULA. The Cougars finished third in their conference last season, but they took a hit this offseason with the departure of their leading scorer and leading big man. They were picked to finish seventh in the CCAA Preseason Coaches' Poll. CSUSM returns five players from last year and adds 10 new faces. None of their top-4 scorers from 17-18 are back on this year's roster. Dalton Soffer (#3) was their fifth-leading scorer and top returner. He averaged 7.5 points-per-game in 22 appearances last year. Keep an eye on newcomer Khalil Fuller, a 6-foot-8-inch, 250-pound big man transferring in from NCAA Division I North Texas.

BIOLA (0-0) vs. CSU LOS ANGELES (0-0): Saturday Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video \\ Promotion: FREE Biola mini pennants (courtesy Biola SGA)
The Eagles' first night game of the 2018-19 season comes against local CCAA rival CSU Los Angeles. The Eagles have not played CSULA in a decade and are just 1-1 all-time against the Golden Eagles. It's the two teams' first matchup as NCAA Division II schools. CSULA finished the 2017-18 season 13-15 overall and 9-13 in CCAA play. They did not make any postseason appearance after missing out on the CCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles look to be much improved this season, getting picked to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason poll. CSULA took on NCAA Division I CSU Northridge in an exhibition on Nov. 1 and held in their with the Matadors. The Golden Eagles outscored CSUN 44-35 in the second half to finish just one bucket back at 89-87. Last season, CSULA was the second-highest scoring team among the four teams here this weekend, averaging nearly 78 points-per-game. However, they were by far the weakest defensive team, giving up 80 points-per-game to their opponents. Fard Muhammad led the Golden Eagles' offense in the exhibition, scoring 25 points in the loss to CSUN. Muhammad is in his first season with CSULA after transferring in from NCAA Division I, Binghamton. He averaged almost 10 points-per-game for the American East school last season. He and redshirt junior Jordan Rogers figure to be the biggest scoring threats against BU, both coming from the perimeter.

PACWEST/CCAA CROSSOVER: This is the third year in a row that Biola will play in a PacWest/CCAA Crossover, including during the Eagles' final season in the GSAC back in 2016-17. Biola is 2-2 all-time in the crossover, with a win and a loss against CSU San Marcos and Chico State. This is the first time BU will face CSU Los Angeles as a part of this tournament. It's the first time the Eagles have faced CSULA since the 2008-09 season.

POLL POSITION: Biola Men's Basketball finished 11th in the PacWest Conference with a 5-15 season last year. The Eagles do not want to replicate that finish, and apparently the coaches in the conference respect BU and Dr. Dave Holmquist enough that they don't think Biola will have a rerun of last season. In last week's PacWest Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, Biola was picked to finish seventh in the league, which decreased from 14 teams to 12 teams this season. The league also increased from 20 conference games to 22 to allow each team to play a balanced, home-and-home schedule.

YEAR 39: Dr. Dave Holmquist just keeps humming along. He's in his 39th season coaching his alma mater and is holding steady in fifth place in the all-time wins list among four-year college men's basketball coaches. Holmquist's 958 wins are third-most among active college coaches, only falling behind Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1,100) and Herb Magee of NCAA Division II Jefferson University (1,074). Holmquist has averaged 22.8 wins-per-season, including three years at Fresno Pacific when he first got started in the mid-1970s. If he can get 22 wins this year, he'd set himself up well for a run at win 1,000 in YEAR 40.

A FRESH FOCUS: Biola brings back a lot of familiar faces, but also added an influx of talented new players (and players returning from injury or redshirting). The Eagles have the largest active roster they've had in years, with 16 men suiting up. Look for experienced starters Trevor Treinen, Alex Talma and Steve Herve to set the tone for the younger players. Notable players to watch this first week will be Alex Wright, who could be taking over the point for BU and Levi Auble who will see his first action since returning from a leg injury that sidelined him the last half of last season. Freshman Whitten Dominguez and transfer Erik Kinnebrew could also get some good time on the floor in the opening week as coach Holmquist and his staff get a better idea of what they've got to work with. DEFENSE FIRST will need to be the mentality for the team again this year as they are without one of those dominant, take over the whole game 20+ point scorers. Biola had its worst defensive season in recent memory last year and will need to check that box to be successful in 18-19. Luckily, coach Holmquist knows a thing or two about how to teach defense.

MR. 1,000: Trevor Treinen eclipsed 1,000 career points in his last game last season. The four-year senior comes into the year with 1,002 career points. He 334 points-per-season over his last three years, with a career-best 442 points last year. If he can get around 375 this season, he could move into the top-10 all-time among Biola Men's Basketball players. The current No. 10 is Bryan Weakley (1998-02) at 1,322. The highest spot he could likely reach would be seventh. He'd need 417 points to pass Roger Poppen (1960-63) for that spot. Treinen is also near the top of the Biola record books in three-pointers made. He comes into this season with 148 through his first three seasons, eighth all-time. He's within 50 of passing Marcus White, Dakari Archer, Nate Rakestraw, Pierre Zook and Doug Newby to move into third all-time behind Weakley (236) and Danny Campbell (203).

NEXT WEEK: vs West Coast Baptist (0-3) - Tuesday Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m.; vs Saint Katherine (1-2) - Thursday Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m.; at Pomona-Pitzer (0-0) - Saturday Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.