For the Fanshawe men's varsity basketball team the tipoff to the season couldn't have come soon enough. Now it is time to see how all the hard work and strict practices is going to payoff. The men have been pushed to the max and now they are ready to take on their Ontario Colleges Athletic Association foes.

Entering the season after a magical run to the national championships this past March, the men hope to duplicate the success.

"The team has an expectation is to make it to the finals," said first year centre Jeff Robertson. "Our strength is our shooting. We don't have an overall weakness, but one thing we need to work on a little bit more would be our rebounding."

So far the team has gone about building confidence in one another, and they believe that they all work well together, and that is what will help lead them to success.

First year guard Julian Shadd- Gentry said, "There's not one person on the team that the fans should look out for, the whole team is equal, and to say that there's only one person to look out for, isn't being fair. We will win and try our best, for every opportunity we get."

Shadd-Gentry said that the team played more of an up-tempo game, but that they also were comfortable playing a half court style game as well.

That balance showed up in the Falcons season opening tilt at Mohawk with a 90-67 win.

Falcons coach Glenn Johnson's squad poured in 59 points in the first half lead by Shadd-Gentry who dropped three three-pointers for a total of 14 points in the first half (23 points on the game).

Jordan Dixon also continued his strong play from last season with 17 points on the game.

The Falcons appeared to pick-up where they left off last season that culminated in an OCAA silver medal and a fourth-place finish at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championships.

The men have their home opening game on Wednesday, October 27 at 8:00 pm at Fanshawe J gym versus the St. Clair Saints.