After a road exhibition in hometown Austin against the NCAA Division I No. 18 University of Texas Longhorns, the St. Edward's men's basketball team will hit the international route in this weekend's CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic.
 
St. Edward's came up short in the "Battle of Austin" against the Longhorns, and their head coach and St. Edward's alumnus Rodney Terry '90, but the Hilltoppers showed potential to be reckoned with in a hard-fought game. 
 
"We know we're not going to play teams at the level of UT, but when we do play good teams, we know we're going to handle it well because of how we handled [this game]," St. Edward's guard GAVINO RAMOS said after Monday's exhibition. "This experience is going to be really good for us going forward. When we're in an environment like this down the season, it won't phase us because we were right there with an Elite Eight team." 
 
There aren't any NCAA Division I teams in the official season-opening weekend. Still, the CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic does feature teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Lone Star Conference, Pacific West Conference, and the East Coast Conference. The Hilltoppers will open against Seattle Pacific with a 12:30 p.m. tip-off on Friday. 
 
Seattle Pacific comes into the matchup as the No. 5-ranked team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference after a 17-11 season, including 12-6 in conference play. Senior forward and GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Shawn Anderson leads the Falcons. The stretch-four was the leading scorer for the Talions last season, averaging 20.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 53.6/41.2/85.3 shooting splits for an offense that averaged 79.4 points per game. 
 
On Saturday, the Hilltoppers face the Western Washington University Vikings. The Vikings come into the weekend ranked No. 4 in the GNAC, coming off a 15-13 season with an 8-10 record in conference play. Junior guard Kai Johnson led the team with 12.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game last season. Sophomore forward BJ Kolly provides a nice one-two punch with 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game in an offense that averaged 84.5 points per game. The duo earned All-GNAC Preseason Team honors. 
 
St. Edward's final opponent of the weekend is host Simon Fraser University. The Red Leafs want to rebound from a 6-22 season with a 1-17 conference record and have homegrown talent in 6-foot-11 redshirt sophomore Sasha Vujisic. 
 
The Hilltoppers open the season with the benefit of continuity, returning four starters. The all-conference frontcourt of SEAN ELKINTON and team co-captain BLAKE NIELSEN is joined by the returning starting backcourt of JEFF GARY, a Division I transfer in his second season at the Hilltop, and junior point guard and co-captain GAVINO RAMOS. 
 
St. Edward's also integrates redshirt freshman CONOR MCMANUS, who started in Monday's exhibition, along with transfers ALEU ALEU, JAYDEN JOHNSTON, and JAMISON KAY. The latter three were joined off the bench by returner BENNETT MOHN. 
 
All games will be streamed live with live stats provided by host Simon Fraser University. Links for both can be found on the tournament website by clicking here.