Saint Augustine's University opens the men's basketball season against the top-ranked Division II team in the nation when the Falcons take on West Liberty University in the MEC/CIAA Challenge in West Liberty, W.Va., this weekend.

The Falcons visit the Hilltoppers on Saturday, November 15, 2014, inside the Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex (ASRC) on the West Liberty University campus. Game time is 5:30 p.m. On Sunday, November 16, the Falcons square off against Cheyney (Pa.) University for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

Click http://www.ustream.tv/channel/west-liberty-university-2  to watch the game on live stream and http://www.sidearmstats.com/westliberty/mbball/ for live stats. Fans can also go to hilltoppersports.com and saintaugfalcons.com for live stream and live stats.

The Falcons are starting a new era under first-year Head Coach MarQus Johnson. A Falcons' assistant for four years, Johnson is anxious to lead his team against one of the nation's top programs. West Liberty reached the NCAA Division II finals last season.

"I'm extremely humbled and gracious for this opportunity that [Interim President] Dr. [Everett] Ward and Coach [George] Williams (Athletic Director) have given me," said Johnson, an assistant coach on the 2010 Falcons' CIAA Championship team. "I'm very excited and optimistic about starting this season.  Coming into the season there were a lot of questions that were asked about the team. And right now some of those questions are still not answered.

 "Hopefully by the end of this weekend we will have answered some of those questions."

Johnson has several returning players from last season's 13-16 squad including guards Keith Crawford (Redshirt Jr./Richmond, VA), Anthony Gaskins (So./Greenville, NC), Raheem Jolliffe (Sr./Fayetteville, NC) Tayron Gibson (Sr./Alexandria, VA), John Koger (Sr./Greensboro, NC) and Xavier Saddler-Mee (Jr./Raleigh, NC). 

Six players will see action for the first time in a Falcons' uniform. They are guards Nick Tennell (Jr./Port St. Lucie, FL) and forwards Quincy January (Fr./Atlanta, GA), Ronald Owens (Sr./Brandywine, MD), Darian Allen (Fr./Durham, NC), Julius Murphy (Fr./Goldsboro, NC) and Damarian Henderson (Redshirt Fr./Goldsboro, NC).

Johnson expects the nucleus of Crawford, Gaskins, Jolliffe, Gibson and Saddler-Mee to provide leadership in the MEC/CIAA Challenge. The group averaged between 12 and 19 minutes last season. Jolliffe is the leading returning scorer with a 7.3 average from a season ago.

West Liberty is ranked No. 1 in the preseason by several organizations including the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Basketball Times, Sporting News and Division II Bulletin. Coming off a 31-4 record last season, the Hilltoppers return four key players including Preseason All-American C.J. Hester. 

"I have great respect for what Coach [Jim] Crutchfield has built at West Liberty," Johnson said. "West Liberty has a great program and has been one of the premier basketball programs the past eight to 10 years. I believe this will be a great opportunity for our guys to see what a first-class championship program is all about."

Cheyney returns one starter – Jerrod Johnson – from last season's 3-23 team.

"We are approaching this weekend like we approach everyday, and that is to work hard and get better," Johnson said. "We are building a program here at SAU and this is part of laying that foundation."