GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (10/24/13) –The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will take the court for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 26, when the Titans host Lawrence Tech in the first of two exhibition contests set for the 2013-14 season. The match-up is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall and all fans receive FREE ADMISSION.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through men's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

LAST YEAR IN EXHIBITIONS
The Titans won both of their exhibition contests last year in convincing fashion as they topped Ryerson (87-55) and Tiffin (123-71) by a combined total of 84 points.

Detroit used a 35-16 run to close the half, including 10-straight points, to take a 42-27 lead into the locker room and never looked back against Ryerson. Anton Wilson exploded for 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep with two assists, while Evan Bruinsma pitched in with six points and five rebounds.

The Titans then finished their preseason with a 123-71 slaying of the Tiffin Dragons. Detroit opened the game with a 25-6 run in the first seven minutes of action to take a 68-41 lead into the locker room. Bruinsma finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Juwan Howard, Jr. added seven points and eight boards.

NO RESPECT
Coming off a season in which it made the NIT for the seventh time in school history as well as a postseason tournament for the second-straight year, UDM was picked to finish eighth in the HL preseason poll - voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. The annual poll, along with the preseason teams, were unveiled at the Horizon League Media Day at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago.

Green Bay was selected as the favorite to win the league with 21 first place votes and 390 points overall, while Wright State was picked to finish second with 389 points, including 22 first place votes. Cleveland State was slated to place third with 338 points and two first-place votes.

Oakland is projected to finish fourth totaling 258 points, ahead of fifth-place Youngstown State's 219 points, as both teams received one first place vote apiece. Defending Horizon League champion Valparaiso was picked sixth (205), followed by UIC (151), Detroit (141) and Milwaukee (69).

The last time Detroit was picked in the bottom half of the Horizon League in the preseason poll was the 2009-10 season when the Titans finished with a 20-14 record.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW
The Titans welcome an impressive recruiting class of five talented student-athletes in Patrick Ackerman, Paris Bass, Matthew Grant, Patrick Onwenu and Jarod Williams to the roster this year, along with sophomore guard Carlton Brundidge, who was ineligible last season after transferring from U-M. Brundidge was a four-star recruit in both Rivals.com and Scout.com and was ranked 75th in the 2011 ESPN 100 coming out of Southfield High School.

MOVING FORWARD
Detroit has a core of student-athletes returning who either started or participated in more than 30 games last year, including forwards Evan Bruinsma and Juwan Howard, Jr. Bruinsma played in 32 games as a junior averaging 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Howard started the first 27 games of the 2012-13 season tallying 7.6 points and 3.2 rebounds.

The frontline also includes senior centers Ugochukwu Njoku and Olumide Solanke along with senior forward Jermaine Lippert who all saw playing time last year. Njoku appeared in all 33 games last season and finished with 20 blocked shots, while Lippert played in 28 games for the Titans last season averaging 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
Detroit will conclude its exhibition season when it hosts Concordia on Saturday, Nov. 2. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall and will have live stats available on the GAMEDAY CENTRAL page.