Game Details:
Date: Jan 9, 2007
Opponent: Pacific Union
Mascot: Pioneers
Tip-off: 7:30 pm
Venue: Pacific Auditorium
City, State: Angwin, CA

This Week: The Oaks (6-5/2-1 Cal Pac) are coming off a crucial 65-62 victory against Cal State Maritime Academy and a 81-66 victory over Cal State East Bay.

Scouting the Pioneers: Pacific Union’s (3-5/1-3 Cal Pac) lone Cal Pac conference victory came against Simpson University in overtime, 104-95). The Pioneers finished last season with a 3-20 overall record and 2-13 in Cal Pac play. They are currently ranked No. 1 in most points averaging a game. Players to Watch: Senior Dustin Comm who leads the conference in steals per game with 2.6 (14.5 ppg., 4.4 rpg.); Senior Mathew Bahike who earned a season high 24 points in the overtime Simpson victory, (13.6 ppg. 6.9 rpg.).

Scouting the Oaks: In their last three victories, Menlo College has had three different players lead in scoring. Menlo is ranked second in the Cal Pac in field goal percentage with 47.5%. The Oaks Players to Watch: Junior Byron Wesley who is No. 3 in scoring in the Cal Pac (15.5 ppg., 5.6 rpg.); Sophomore Chris Cobb who led the Oaks in points with 21 against CS Maritime, (6.3 ppg., 2.6 apg.).

Cal Pac Conference Notes: After finishing fourth last year in the Cal Pac, the Oaks are picked to finish second in the Cal Pac Coaches Preseason Poll behind Holy Names, last years Cal Pac Champions.

Menlo History: Since joining the NAIA, the Menlo men’s basketball team has accumulated a winning overall record (266-248). The Oaks have won two Cal Pac Championships and made two appearances to the NAIA Tournament, the last one in 2001-02 season.

Last Meeting: With their largest winning margin for the season, the Oaks defeated the Pioneers 66-34 on February 12, 2006.

About the Coaches: An assistant the past three seasons, Brandon Laird was elevated to Menlo College’s head men’s basketball coach this past June. Laird, a UC-Davis graduate, inherits a program that showed dramatic improvement between each of his three seasons as an assistant, capping the run with a 17-11 showing during the 2005-06 campaign. Under Laird’s assistance, the Oaks also shined in the classroom. During the 2005-06 school year, Menlo accumulated a 3.2 cumulative team GPA and eight Oaks were named to the college’s Dean’s List.

Head Coach Scott Blunt has been with the men’s basketball coach at Pacific Union for eight years. A graduate from PUC in ’92, Blunt majored in physical education.