Men's Basketball 11/12/2015 12:23:00 PM By Nick Evans, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations

Men's Basketball opens at home against Cincinnati Christian

GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team opens its 2015-16 regular season at Johnson Arena this Friday against NAIA opponent Cincinnati Christian. Tip-off is set for 7.45 p.m.

Morehead State finished last season 17-17 overall, 10-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference, advancing to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament before narrowly falling to Murray State. Cincinnati Christian enters the game with a 4-1 record.

The Eagles played their lone exhibition on Nov. 3, defeating Asbury (Ky.), 107-57.

The contest will air live on the OVC Digital Network. It will also broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network with Jason Blanton calling all of the action. The radio network includes WIVY-96.3 FM and several affiliates throughout eastern Kentucky. A live audio stream can be found on MSUEagles.com and the Eagle Empire app.

QUOTES FROM COACH WOODS

On starting the season...
"I'm excited, it's now basketball season officially. We're going to see what we're made of come Friday night."

On what they learned from the preseason win against Asbury...
"We're a little ahead of the curve, especially defensively with our switches and things like that. We've got to continue to dominate the glass because when we've done that in the past, we've had pretty good years."

On the role the seniors will play...
"They're going to play the role of seniors. They're going to have to play a lot of minutes. They have to be the forefront of this basketball team, both mentally and physically."

On Cincinnati Christian...
"They're a pretty good basketball team. They have already had some tests and they've weathered the storm, coming back from 15 or 16 points down a couple of times. This is a team that is not going to quit no matter what the score is."

On some newcomers that will contribute early...
"I expect everyone to play. They are all going to get their opportunity to play tomorrow night."

GAME NOTES

RETURNING STARTERS
Morehead State returns two starters from last year's team, including senior Brent Arrington, a Preseason All-OVC selection who averaged 11.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals/game last season. The other returning starter is junior Corban Collins. Seniors Lyonell Gaines and Anthony Elechi also return after making a combined eight starts.

THE SENIORS
The Eagles return four seniors in Brent Arrington, Anthony Elechi, Lyonell Gaines, and Jared Ravenscraft. Arrington was the only player to start all 34 games for Morehead State, while Gaines started seven times and Elechi started once. Gaines posted four double-digit scoring games early in the season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

NEW ARRIVALS
MSU welcomes eight new players this season, including two true freshmen (Malik Maitland, Lamontray Harris) and six junior college transfers (Ty'Quan Bitting, Keion Alexander, DeJuan Marrero, Xavier Moon, Treshaad Williams, Ronnye Beamon).

THE MAN IN CHARGE
Sean Woods, who has been associated with six Division I men's basketball programs, is in his fourth season as the head coach at Morehead State. It is also his eighth season as a Division I head coach and 13th year of coaching at the collegiate level. Woods guided Morehead State to a 17-17 overall record and 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference mark in 2014-15.

WHO ELSE IS ON THE STAFF?
Associate Head Coach Dylan Howard, Assistant Coach Preston Spradlin, Director of Operations Jonathan Mattox all return to the staff in 2015-16. The newcomer is Assistant Coach Derrick Tilmon, who was a member of the Missouri State staff from 2012-15.

JOHNSON ARENA TILTS
Morehead State will host 15 regular-season tilts at Johnson Arena, including dates with Marshall (Nov. 24), Southern Miss (Nov. 28) and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 11).

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Players Mentioned

#3 Corban Collins: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#10 Anthony Elechi: F/C; 6' 8"; Senior

#31 Lyonell Gaines: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior

#14 Jared Ravenscraft: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Malik Maitland: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

#4 Ty'Quan Bitting: F/C; 6' 9"; Junior

#13 Lamontray Harris: F; 6' 7"; Freshman

#15 DeJuan Marrero: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Junior

#22 Xavier Moon: G; 6' 2"; Junior

#23 Treshaad Williams: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#25 Ronnye Beamon: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#11 Keion Alexander: F/C; 6' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Corban Collins
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#10 Anthony Elechi
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F/C

#31 Lyonell Gaines
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#14 Jared Ravenscraft
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#1 Malik Maitland
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

#4 Ty'Quan Bitting
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F/C

#13 Lamontray Harris
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: F

#15 DeJuan Marrero
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#22 Xavier Moon
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G

#23 Treshaad Williams
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#25 Ronnye Beamon
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#11 Keion Alexander
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F/C