EWU men open busy hoops week

There’s nothing like jumping headfirst into a busy November schedule.

The Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team opens the 2015-16 season with three games in five nights, starting on Friday (Nov. 13) versus Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference.

That game tips off at 6 p.m. Pacific time and is televised live on the SEC Network. Fans can also listen to the game on 700-AM ESPN and via the web at http://www.700espn.com, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Sean Widmer will call the play-by-play in place of Larry Weir, who will be in Missoula, Mont., for the EWU-Montana football game the next day.

Following a return trip to Cheney, the Eagles open their home schedule by facing George Fox and Seattle in a pair of games at Reese Court.

The game versus George Fox takes place at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15, right after the EWU women’s game against Air Force. Eastern hosts Seattle on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 6:05 p.m.

Mississippi State finished 13-19 overall last year and 6-12 in the SEC.

George Fox, a member of NCAA Division III, was 5-20 a year ago and 3-13 in the Northwest Conference. The afternoon matinee will feature the presentation of championship rings to the 2014-15 squad and unveiling of Big Sky championship and NCAA Tournament banners at Reese Court.

“We’ll shake the travel off and play our home season opener against George Fox,” said Hayford. “This is the biggest game on their schedule, so we’ll take their best punch.”

Two days later, in the first of back-to-back games against Seattle, Eastern takes on a Redhawks team that was 18-16 overall and 7-7 in the Western Athletic Conference last season.