THE SCHEDULE
Game #3
at Cal State East Bay (1-1)
Wednesday, Nov. 16 • 7:30 p.m.
Pioneer Gymnasium • Hayward, Calif.
Live Stats • Video
 
Exhibition #2
at UC Riverside (1-1)
Saturday, Nov. 19 • 4 p.m.
SRC Arena • Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats • Video • Radio
 
Fresno Pacific continues its early season non-conference schedule this week, hitting the road for two games. The Sunbirds face CCAA-foe Cal State Easy Bay on Wednesday before taking on Division I UC Riverside on Saturday in an exhibition.
 
LAST TIME OUT
FPU hosted the PacWest/GNAC Challenge last weekend and faced Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. The Sunbirds dropped both games, the first 73-59 against SMU and then 85-54 to WOU. FPU was held to 37 percent from the field between the two games, while its opponents countered at a clip of 53 percent. Kavika Jimenez averaged 13.5 points per game, while T.J. Viney added 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
 
SUNBIRDS ON THE RADIO
FPU Athletics has entered into an agreement with local radio station AM 1680 The Answer to provide a broadcast home for the Sunbirds, beginning with the upcoming men's basketball season. AM 1680 The Answer (KGED) will broadcast all 13 men's basketball home games.
 
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Sunbirds opened the regular season at home with the PacWest/GNAC Challenge that featured Point Loma, Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. The Sunbirds will also face Cal State East Bay, Western Washington, Alaska Fairbanks, Cal State L.A. and Stanislaus State in non-conference action.
 
The team's 20-game PacWest schedule includes home games against Point Loma, California Baptist, Dixie State and Azusa Pacific. The top six teams in the league qualify for the PacWest Tournament in Irvine, March 1-3, with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Check out the full schedule.
 
PACWEST PRESEASON POLL
FPU was picked to finish 11th in the 2016-17 Pacific West Conference standings according to a poll of the league's coaches. California Baptist received 179 points and six first-place votes to top the poll. Azusa Pacific, last season's PacWest regular season champion, was second with 171 points and five first-place votes. Following the two were Dixie State and Concordia in third and fourth, respectively. The Red Storm garnered 161 points while Eagles amassed 156 points and one first-place vote. Rounding out the poll was Point Loma (140 points, one first-place vote), Chaminade (129), Hawai'i Pacific (118), BYU-Hawaii (96), Dominican (93, one first-place vote), Hawai'i Hilo (66), FPU (59), Academy of Art (45), Holy Names (32) and Notre Dame de Namur (25).
 
ROSTER NOTES
First-year head coach C.J. Haydock returns five from the 2015-16 team, including the team's second-leading scorer Spencer Krannitz (14.9 ppg, .507 FG%). T.J. Viney (6.0 PPG, 3.3 APG), Suhail Mohammadi (18.6 MPG, 3.9 PPG), Jeff Bartley (16 GP) and Oliver Herting (.687 FG%) also return for the Sunbirds.
 
The roster will feature 11 newcomers – Mike Crawley, R.J. Horn, Sam Holmes, Kavika Jimenez, Jordan Belasco, Evan Stillahn, Adriel McGee, Sam Burt, Martin Arambula, Elijah Hill and Rafail Eleftheriou.
  
The roster features 13 California natives, two international student-athletes and three out-of-state.
 
SUNBIRD NOTES
The Sunbirds last opened the season 0-2 during the 2012-13 campaign….that team ended with a 21-9 overall record….FPU currently holds a negative 22.5 scoring margin….Kavika Jimenez has scored in double-digit points in consecutive games….Mike Crawley missed the season opener due to injury, and added 10 points in his FPU debut against WOU….Spencer Krannitz missed the first two games of the season due to injury….The Sunbirds had nine players make their debut this weekend: Jimenez, Crawley, R.J. Horn, Rafail Eleftheriou, Jordan Belasco, Adriel McGee, Sam Holmes, Martin Armabula and Evan Stillahn.
 
HEAD COACH C.J. HAYDOCK
C.J. Haydock became the head men's basketball coach in April 2016 after serving as the program's lead assistant and recruiting coordinator during the 2015-16 season, following a highly-successful 11 years of coaching in the high school ranks. As an assistant, Haydock played an integral part in all aspects of running the program, working as the Sunbirds' recruiting coordinator and developing FPU's guards. He helped guide the program to its first winning record since 2012-13, a five-win improvement from the previous season. Haydock came to FPU after coaching locally at Immanuel High School where he led the Eagles to back-to-back Valley championships and a ranking as high as #1 in the state in 2014-15. Haydock, the 2015 Fresno Bee High School Coach of the Year, became the head coach at Immanuel in 2011, inheriting a program that had gone 4-23 the previous year. In four seasons with the Eagles he posted an overall record of 70-47, including a 30-3 mark in 2014-15, going undefeated against Central Section opponents across all divisions and reaching the Division IV state quarterfinals.
 
ABOUT THE PIONEERS
Cal State East Bay, under head coach Gus Argenal, enters at 1-1 on the season. The Pioneers hosted the 2016 Pioneer Challenge to open the year. CSUEB earned a 79-60 win over Notre Dame De Namur before falling 107-81 to Western Washington. Druce Asah leads the Pioneers with a 20 point per game scoring clip, while Micah Dunhour is averaging 9.5 points per outing and nine rebounds per contest. Juwan Anderson facilitates the offense with 5.5 assists per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 10th meeting between the two schools, with FPU holding a 5-4 all-time series record. The last meeting came during the 2013-14 season, with East Bay earning an 82-77 win.
 
ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside, under head coach Dennis Cutts, currently stands at 1-1 overall. The Highlanders take on UNLV prior to facing the Sunbirds on Saturday. UCR fell to Portland 71-55 in the season opener before defeating Bristol 81-45 on Nov. 13. Malik Thames leads UCR in scoring at 14.5 points per game, while Secean Johnson adds 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the eighth meeting between the two schools. The Highlanders hold a 6-1 all-time series advantage. The Sunbirds fell 86-64 in the last meeting in 1992, while the first meeting came in 1966 with UCR defeating FPU 78-52. FPU defeated the Highlanders in 1981 by a score of 64-63.
 
SHOP FPU
The Fresno Pacific Department of Athletics is proud to announce the opening of a Team Store that can be accessed on ShopFPU.com. Fans and students can now purchase apparel for all 14 athletic teams, along with numerous other items, throughout of the 2016-17 season.
 
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