For the second time in three years the Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team finds themselves preparing to compete against an NCAA Division I team, this time the Iona College Gaels from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
The game is set for 4 p.m. at the University of Guelph on Sunday, August 31st.
For the Voyageurs, this will be a great opportunity to gage where they are in their team development after just a week of practice.
The Voyageurs will be trying to mix up their returning players with their rookies so they can get a feel for each other and so the coaches can begin to evaluate the team, especially against some very athletic competition.
The Laurentian men will be looking at a big team across the court from them on Sunday with only one player for Iona listed at under six-feet tall.
With the graduation of Gaels leading scorer Dexter Gray, the Voyageurs will need to pay close attention to second and third leading scorers from a year ago, Gary Springer and Devon Clarke.
Springer is a six-foot-nine-inch forward/centre who averaged 10.9 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game, while Clarke, a six-foot-six-inch forward, who averaged 10 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game.
The Voyageurs will also have to find an answer on the glass for Jonathan Huffman, a seven-foot forward/centre.
Iona College finished the 2007-08 season in seventh place in the MAAC standing with an 8-10 conference record. They were 12-20 overall.
For the Laurentian men to be successful, they will need to use their speed against a big athletic Gaels team. They will also need to rebound by committee at both ends of the floor to help generate second chance points on offence and take them away on defence.
"This weekend's game is a good chance for us to battle against a solid NCAA school in Iona," said head coach Shawn Swords, in a release.
"We will get a first hand look at playing a team with lots of athleticism and strength. It will be a good test to see how we handle playing against some good competition after only one week of practice."
The Laurentian men will hit the court at the University of Guelph at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 31.
