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SETTING THE SCENE
The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team begins its 51st season of intercollegiate play when it opens the 2016-17 campaign this weekend by hosting the GLVC-GLIAC Challenge. The Tritons face Ferris State on Friday before hosting Grand Valley State on Saturday. This is the third year of the Challenge, which kicked off two years ago at Quincy and was played last season in Allendale, Mich., with Grand Valley State hosting. The four teams will round out the four-year challenge next season at Ferris State.

LAST TIME OUT
UMSL is coming off a 72-67 exhibition loss at NCAA Division I SIU Carbondale last Thursday. SIU scored the final seven points of the game to escape with the victory, erasing a two-point Tritons lead with under three minutes to play. The game featured 16 ties and 18 lead changes and no lead greater than six by either team. Senior Joseph English led the Tritons with 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while senior Hunter Reine followed with 12 points and 12 rebounds, helping UMSL to a 36-31 rebounding advantage.

UMSL IN SEASON OPENERS
In the previous 50 season openers, the Tritons have posted a record of 30-20. UMSL lost an 80-55 decision to Ferris State in last year's lid lifter. The Tritons are opening the season at home for the first time since the 2012-13 season.  

HOME SWEET HOME
UMSL has won 29 straight home non-conference games, dating back to the start of the 2010-11 season. The Tritons last lost a non-league game in the friendly confines of the Mark Twain Building on December 21, 2009, falling to Christian Brothers, 63-48.

THE SERIES
UMSL and Ferris State meet for the third straight year, which marks the only three meetings between the two programs. The Bulldogs posted an 80-55 win last season, while the Tritons earned the 71-70 victory two seasons ago.

UMSL and Grand Valley State meet for sixth time with the Lakers having won four of those contests, including a 63-57 decision last season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ferris State, which went 24-10 last season, opens its fourth season under head coach Andy Bronkema after winning the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship for the second consecutive year last season and reaching the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen in the third season under Bronkema's direction. The Bulldogs return seven letterwinners from a year ago, including a lone senior in guard Quentin Ruff, who averaged 6.5 points per game. Ferris State is coming off an 85-79 exhibition victory over Detroit Mercy earlier this week

Grand Valley State returns nine letterwinners and a pair of starters from the 2015-16 team that finished with an 18-11 overall record. The Lakers' leading returning scorer is senior guard Luke Ryskamp, who averaged 13.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in a team-best 30.3 minutes per game. GVSU is coming off a 98-68 exhibition loss at Oakland on Monday.

SIZING UP THE TRITONS
UMSL is coming off a 12-16 record in 2015-16, which included a 6-12 Great Lakes Valley Conference mark. The Tritons won their final regular season game of the year at Maryville to clinch a bid to the league's postseason tournament for the sixth straight year.

UMSL has been picked to finish fifth in the GLVC's West Division in the preseason poll following a vote of the coaches.

Among the handful of players returning who saw significant time on the court last year is senior guard Joseph English, the top returning scorer at 8.8 points per game. English also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, while senior forward Hunter Reine followed with 7.9 points and a team-best 4.8 rebounds per game and led team from the field, shooting 57.1 percent.

A LOOK AT OUR SCHEDULE
UMSL will play a 28-game slate, which includes 15 homes. The schedule also contains:
- 18 GLVC games
- Three games against teams ranked in the NABC DII Preseason Top 25 Poll (Bellarmine at No. 3 and two games against Drury at No. 22) and another four that are receiving votes (Quincy, Indianapolis, Wisconsin-Parkside and East Central)
- Five games against NCAA DII Tournament participants last year (Ferris State, Indianapolis, Lewis, UW-Parkside and Bellarmine)
- Five straight home games to end the regular season

UP NEXT
UMSL continues its three-game season-opening homestand on Tuesday, hosting Robert Morris-Peoria.