LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Men's Basketball was ranked fifth in the PacWest Preseason Poll released by the Conference Office on Wednesday.
The Eagles received 88 points to place them in the clear upper-half of the poll. Biola was 16 points ahead of sixth-ranked Fresno Pacific, but was 25 points back from a clear group of top-4 teams in the poll. Concordia Irvine led that group with 137 points and eight first-place votes. Azusa Pacific (131), Chaminade (121) and Point Loma (113) were the other schools in the top group.
Biola went 0-8 against that top group last season in compiling an 11-11 overall record in PacWest Conference play. The Eagles finished tied for fifth in the conference and would've made the PacWest Conference tournament if eligible. This season is Biola's first year eligible for the tournament, which features the top-6 teams in the conference. This year's tournament is hosted by Azusa Pacific March 5-7.
Biola features a nearly brand new roster, with five returning players joined by seven newcomers. Michael Bagatourian and Alex Wright are the only returning starters from last season. Bagatourian was honored with Preseason All-PacWest selection as one of the top-6 players in the conference headed into the new year.
Bagatourian had a career year last season, averaging 12.1 points-per-game as he started all 28 games for the Eagles. He was third on the team in total points and scored in double-figures 17 times. The sophomore averaged about 30 minutes-per-game and led the team in three-point shooting.
"Michael will do many things for us this year," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "He will be one of our best scorers and will do a lot of ball handling to create for other people."
Wright is a big returning piece, too. He was the starting point guard for the Eagles and played in all 28 games. He was the clear best freshman in the PacWest Conference one year ago, leading freshman in every major statistical category and taking home four PacWest Freshmen of the Week honors.
He will have a different role this year with the addition of senior transfer point guard Marquise Mosley, but will have just as much of an impact on the Eagles' ability to put points on the board. Mosley, just like Wright, is a transfer from NCAA Division I California Baptist.
Concordia Irvine was selected as favorites to win the conference after finishing second last season with an 18-4 conference mark. They are the only team from last year's three Southern California powerhouses (CUI, APU, PLNU) to have their head coach return for 2019-20. That could be a big factor in how this season shakes out.
Point Loma, last year's NCAA Division II runner-up, took a major hit with the departure of the PacWest Coach of the Year to the NCAA Division I coaching ranks and the loss of reigning NCAA Division II Player of the Year Daulton Hommes to the NBA development leagues.
Those changes are reflected in that the reigning conference champions (20-2 in 18-19) are ranked fourth in the poll with zero first-place votes. Azusa Pacific also underwent a coaching change this offseason, handing the reigns to long-time assistant coach Peter Bond.
But, the Eagles' biggest rivals do have the Preseason Player of the Year in Selom Mawugbe on their roster. Mawugbe averaged 11.8 points-per-game and 8.0 rebounds-per-game in just over 25 minutes-per-game last season. The Cougars received three first-place votes in the poll to finish second overall.
"All of those teams are very good. We just hope we can compete well," said Holmquist. "We've played against three of those programs for many years. They all have strong histories, fine coaches and talented players. We hope we can be in that group this year."
No team had more than one player selected to the preseason all-conference team. There were six members, including Mawugbe, Bagatourian, Chaminade's Tyler Cartaino, Point Loma's Sterling Somers, Concordia's Robert McCoy and Aamondae Coleman from Fresno Pacific.
The Eagles are expecting improvement in the 2019-20 season with a very strong transfer class led by Mosley and 7-foot-0 center from UC Irvine, Solomon Ruddell.
"At this point, three of our starting five will be transfers. We're excited about that group. We have so many new players," said Holmquist. "We're going to have to play a few games to see where we are. We are hopeful we will have a good team, but we have to show that on the court and have not had the chance to do that yet. We're looking to see how we can improve week to week."
Ruddell spent two seasons with the Anteaters, using a redshirt year for one of them, so he comes to Biola with three years of eligibility left. He's a tremendous shot blocker who also has a nose for the basket. It will be a welcome addition for a Biola team that saw most of its scoring come from its guards the last few years.
Joining Mosley and Ruddell are Cade Carroll (CSU-Publo), Chris Rossow (Southwest Baptist) and Jesse Elrod (Citrus), who each expect to provide valuable contributions in Holmquist's rotation.
Zanen Zeller will play his true freshman season at Biola and expects to see some time on the floor as a good physical presence, strong defender and grinder.
The 2019-20 season kicks off on November 8 with the Eagles playing CSU San Marcos at CSU Los Angeles as part of the preseason PacWest-CCAA Crossover. The Eagles will play CSULA on November 9 as the second half of that tournament.
The first home game of the season comes on November 19 at 7:30 p.m. when BU hosts La Sierra. It's the first of four home non-conference contests leading up to the PacWest Conference opener at Notre Dame de Namur on December 5.
Both Cornerstone Cup matchups against Azusa Pacific take place in a two-week stretch in the new year. Biola heads to the Felix Event Center on January 18 and the Cougars come to Chase Gym for a 7:30 p.m. game on February 1.
