The East Central University men's basketball team will play the first games of the 2015-16 season at home and the first Great American Conference games this weekend when they welcome Southern Arkansas, Thursday, Nov. 19 (7:30 p.m.) and Arkansas-Monticello, Saturday, Nov. 21 (3 p.m.) to the Kerr Activities Center.

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2015-16 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 19th season. Morrison, a 1987 ECU graduate, spent two seasons doing color prior to taking over the play-by-play duties during the 1997-98 season.  

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video (if available) and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the men's basketball schedule page. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast online or through the FREE KXFC App available in ITunes, Google Stores where apps are sold and www.kxfcradio.com.

Scouting Southern Arkansas
The Muleriders are 1-1 after the opening weekend of action in 2015-16.  SAU defeated Minot State and then fell to Mary in their edition of the GAC/NSIC Challenge.

The Muleriders came out of the weekend with a +6.0 points and -7.0 rebound margin.  SAU shot well, with a .421 mark overall and a 31.4 percentage from beyond the arc.

There are two players in double-digits in the scoring column so far this season for the Muleriders.  Jaron Davis leads the team with 21.0 points per game, while adding 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.5 steals per game.  Deon Andrews contributes 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 0.5 assists per outing.

The Series
Thursday's meeting will be the 20th in the all-time series that stands at 12-7 in favor of the Tigers.  That record includes a 5-3 mark when playing as GAC opponents and a 5-1 mark in Ada.

Scouting Arkansas-Monticello
The Boll Weevils are 0-2 after the Southwest Baptist Classic, falling by two to Lincoln and 12 to the host Bears.  UAM will get their GAC season started Thursday at Southeastern.

The Boll Weevils have a -9.0 scoring and -17.5 rebounding margin for the year, but shot .434 from the floor and .361 from the field.  One of the areas where they have a bigger advantage is free throws.  UAM has made more FTs than their opponents have attempted (43-61 to 31-42).

There are four players who tallied double-digit scoring averages in the first two games and a fifth at 9.5 points per game.  Brandon Scott leads the group with 14.0 points, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting .500 from the floor and .571 from three-point range.  Andre Brown adds 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 steals and blocks per game.

The Series
Saturday's game is just the ninth meeting in the all-time series, which the Boll Weevils hold a 2-6 advantage, including a 1-3 mark when playing at Kerr.

Early Signing
ECU announced the addition of one player to the 2016-17 roster during the early signing period in Camron Talley.

Talley comes to the Tigers from Rockwall-Heath High School in Rockwall, Texas.  He has been a starter for the Hawks since his freshman season and averaged 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game as a junior.

Talley has been a standout since his freshman season, earning all-district first team honors all three seasons and averaging 14 points and 12.9 points per game in sophomore and freshman seasons, respectively.

Gaining Some Recognition
The Tigers opened the year by being ranked No. 25 in the DII Bulletin Preseason Top-25 Poll.  Senior Stirling Thomas was also honored by DII Bulletin, being named to the Preseason All-America list as an honorable mention.  The Tigers are also receiving votes in the NABC Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll.

Picked Near the Top
ECU was picked to finish second, out of 12 teams, in the 2015-16 GAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

The Tigers were a very close second to Harding, who was picked first.  The Bisons finished with 109 points and four first-place votes, while ECU had 107 points and three first-place votes.

Ouachita Baptist was next with 100 points and four first-place votes, while Arkansas Tech as picked fourth with 96 points and the final first-place vote.

Southwestern was fifth (74), Southern Nazarene sixth (69), Southern Arkansas seventh (67), Southeastern eighth (45), Arkansas-Monticello ninth (43), Henderson State 10th (36), Northwestern 11th (29) and Oklahoma Baptist 12th (17).

Starting Strong
ECU started the year by playing two back-to-back exhibition games at Oklahoma State and UTEP.  While, the Tigers fell in both meetings, they kept the score close for most of the games and only fell by 12 at UTEP.

Stirling Thomas led ECU in the two exhibitions with 12.5 points per game, while adding 3.5 boards.  Transfer Brett Cannon added 9.0 points per game, while freshman Ben Brown-White led the team with 8.5 rebounds per game.

Season Tickets Available
The ECU athletic department has announced that they will start selling season basketball tickets for the 2015-16 season.  The department will have both an individual pass and a family pass available for purchase.

The individual pass will allow the bearer into all 11 GAC double-headers and into all single men's and women's regular-season games during the 2015-16 season.  The cost is $60, with a $28 savings.

The family pass is for two adults and up to five children (18 & under) to have general admission seats, with a cost of $125 and a $51 savings.

All seating at the Kerr Activities Center is general admission.  Single game ticket prices are $8.  Children under 12, seniors over 65, ECU students, ECU Faculty & Staff (with valid ID) and those with military IDs receive free admission.

Up Next
The Tigers will hit the road for the start of a five-game road swing when they travel to Dallas Baptist, Tuesday, Nov. 24 for a 7 p.m. game.