Men's Basketball (0-2) vs. Mitchell College (1-1) Preview

LAST YEAR: Junior Joshua Ford had a game-high 24 points and a team-high nine rebounds as host Mitchell defeated Coast Guard 88-71.

Sophomore David Anderson and senior Greg Marshall each finished with 22 points while Anderson registered his third straight double-double to open the season.

Coast Guard shot 48.3 percent (28-58) from the floor in the game while making 6 of 16 from 3-point range. Mitchell shot 50 percent (30-60) and hit 6 of 20 from downtown.

The Mariners held a huge edge hitting 22 of 27 from the foul line (19 of 23 in the second half) while the Bears were 9 of 13 from the line, just 3 of 5 in the final 20 minutes.

The win against Coast Guard was the first in school history for Mitchell.

SERIES HISTORY: Coast Guard holds a 7-1 edge in meetings between the schools, including an impressive seven-game win streak to open the series dating from the 2005/06 season through the 2011/12 campaign.

LAST GAME: Eli Sponseller and Avierre Conner both scored in double figures but Coast Guard dropped a 57-56 contest with MCLA in the consolation game at the 2013 Herb Kenny Tip-Off hosted by Wesleyan.

David Anderson scored a layup with two second left to make the score 57-56 before Devonte Weems stole the inbounds pass but Coast Guard's shot at the buzzer missed.

The Bears led 36-18 following a layup by Sponseller with 16:29 to place before MCLA used a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 36-31. Coast Guard would build the lead back up to 12 with 8:29 but the Bears would not record another field goal until Anderson's shortly before the final whistle.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears play their home-opener tonight after opening up the season at Wesleyan University's Herb Kenny Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend.

The Bears are led by junior Eli Sponseller's 13.5 points per game. Sponseller also leads the Bears with three treys and five assists.

Sophomore Avierre Conner, who is shooting a team-high 62.5 percent from the field, is fourth on the team with 7.0 points per game.

Senior Devonte Weems (8.0 ppg) leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game while junior David Anderson (12.5 ppg.) ranks second with 6.0 rebounds per game.

Coast Guard is shooting 33.7 percent from the field, the Bears are shooting 30.4 percent from 3-point range (7-23).

The Bears are averaging 52 points per game while allowing 57.5 points per contest.

SCOUTING MITCHELL: The Mariners are coming off a strong 14-12 campaign a year ago (9-7 NECC) in which they advanced to the conference semi-finals. This season they're off to a 1-1 start with a convincing win over Albany Pharmarcy which they followed with a close loss to Albertus Magnus.

Joshua Ford, a fourth-team all region selection a year ago, is the leading returning scorer and rebounder for Mitchell. The reigning NECC Player of the Year is averaging 19.5 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists per game. Alex Del Rio (10.0 ppg) , Devonta Mosley (13.0 ppg), and Michael Pellegrini (11.5) are all averaging in double-figures for Mitchell.

The Mariners shoot 46.1 percent from the floor and 44 percent from behind the arc (22-50) this season.

Mitchell is averaging 95.5 points while allowing 75.5 points per game in 2013/14.

UP NEXT: The Bears return to action on Saturday when they play host Roger Williams at 4 p.m.

STAT OF THE DAY: Eli Sponseller now has five career double-figure scoring games.