MARSHALL, Texas – After a NCAA Division I exhibition contest to open the season on the road, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team will take to the court in Ornelas Gym to start the 2018-19 season this weekend. ETBU will host the ASC/SCAC Crossover from Nov. 16-17 facing Texas Lutheran University on Friday and Schreiner University on Saturday.  ETBU was picked to finish third in the American Southwest Conference East Division polls after an impressive 21-7 finish to the 2017-18 season.

Returning to the fold for the Tigers is leading scorer Robby Dooley. The 6-2 junior averaged 16.9 points per game, including a career-high 28 points in the ASC Tournament. Dooley was also voted to the All-ASC First team. Landin Brown returns to pace the ETBU offense averaging 9.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists from the previous year. Brown was also named to both the All-ASC East Second Team and the All-ASC East Defensive Team for his efforts. The sharp shooter Westin Riddick enters this season after claiming All-Freshman Team honors during his first campaign with the Tigers. Riddick averaged 11.9 points per game making 92 three pointers on 41.1 percent shooting.

 TLU enters the ASC/SCAC Crossover with a record of 0-1 after a tough three point loss (90-87) to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 10. Jacob Kouremetis led the way with 22 points in the loss. In the overall season series, the Bulldogs have a 23-15 advantage. However, the Tigers have won the last two games, including last season's 99-86 win in the Schreiner University Classic. Nathan Fontenot led ETBU with 30 points off the bench. TLU finished last season with an overall record of 12-15.

Schreiner enters the tournament after a loss to UMHB (83-64) on Thursday, Nov. 8. Matthew Rindhal led the Mountaineers with 10 points and five rebounds. In the overall season series, ETBU owns the edge over SU going 13-6. The Tigers won the last matchup 92-85 last season behind 19 points and five boards by Dooley. Schreiner finished the 17-18 season with a record of 15-14 and were the SCAC Champions making the NCAA Tournament.
With the Tigers getting set to open up the regular season, Head Coach Brandon Curran talked about the team's mindset ahead of the team's first real test against TLU on Friday night.

"I think the guys have done a great job focusing and fixing all the things that we need to fix to get better. We have a very talented group and they're picking everything up very fast. It's been an awesome 10 days for us to just prepare for Texas Lutheran and Schreiner this weekend. I couldn't be happier with the guy's effort and discipline," Curran said.

ETBU will tip-off against TLU on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m. and will conclude the crossover with a contest against SU at 6:00 p.m.