WarriorBasketball Notebook: Complete PDF Version

The Warriors are finally making their regular season home debut this week as they host Notre Dame de Namur on Wednesday prior to an early-season CCAA showdown with Chico State on Saturday.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.
vs. Notre Dame de Namur ARGONAUTS (1-6) | Fitzpatrick Arena, Turlock | Live Stats | Live Video

Series Notes: Cal State Stanislaus and Notre Dame de Namur have only met three times during the Warriors' CCAA era with Stanislaus holding a 2-1 advantage. Both institutions used to be in the NCAC briefly when NDNU was College of Notre Dame.

Last Time We Met... was Dec. 15, 2007, in Belmont. NDNU won 75-65. The Warriors won the two previous meetings  in 2003 and 2001.

About the Argonauts: NDNU has lost two straight after snapping a four-game skid with a win over Simon Fraser on Nov. 29 … Jalen Young averages 23.6 points per game with 17 3-pointers. He scored 27 points against Alaska Anchorage on 11/28.

Saturday, Dec. 13, 5:30 p.m.
vs. Chico State WILDCATS (5-2, 2-0 CCAA) | Fitzpatrick Arena, Turlock | Live Stats | Live Video

Series Notes: The Warriors and Chico State met four times in 2013-14, each winning twice. Chico State holds a slight 31-27 edge in the all-time record, but Stanislaus is 10-6 at home during CCAA play.

Last Time We Met... was the West Region Championship game on March 17, 2014, in San Bernardino. Chico State rallied from down 13 points with 2:48 to play to win 81-80.

About the Wildcats: Chico State also won both games at Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills last week … Robert Duncan leads the team with 14.9 points a game and Jordan Semple adds 14.7 points with 7.4 rebounds per contest.

Against the PacWest
Notre Dame de Namur will be the Warriors' fourth PacWest opponent this season in seven games. The Warriors are so far 1-2 against teams from the Pacific West Conference with losses to Dixie State and California Baptist at the CBU Thanksgiving Classic. Stanislaus beat Dominican, 60-58, to start the year on Nov. 14.

Rivary with Chico Sets Up Showdown!
The heated rivary between the Warriors and the Wildcats will be the focal point this week after the teams met four times in 2013-14 with split results. This early-season showdown (which continues next Saturday in Chico) might also determine who will be on top of the CCAA standings when the calendar turns to 2015.

About Those Meetings In 2013-14
After the Warriors and Chico State split the regular season head-to-head series early in the season (each winning a home game), the teams met in two championship games in the postseason. Cal State Stanislaus destroyed the Wildcats, 82-70, to win the CCAA conference tournament title on March 8. Chico State rallied from down 13 points with less than three minutes left to play to win the West Region Championship, 81-80, on March 17.

Two Road Wins a Great Start
Cal State Stanislaus opened the CCAA season with two road victories, at Cal State L.A. and at Cal State Dominguez Hills, last weekend to start the year 2-0. The Warriors didn't pick up their second road CCAA win last year until game five and finished 5-6 in away conference games in 2013-14.

Convincing Wins
Those two road wins were impressive, too, as the Warriors won convincingly over both teams in the L.A. area. Friday at Cal State L.A., the Warriors led wire-to-wire and by as many as 19 points late in the second half en route to the 9-point, 64-55, win. On Saturday, the Warriors again dominated with CSUDH led briefly by one point twice. The Warriors again led by as many as 19 points late in the game for the 15-point victory.

Read it All-Round
Chris Read had a nice all-around weekend, especially during the win over the Golden Eagles. Against Cal State L.A., Read scored 13 points with 4 assists, 2 blocked shots and 4 steals. In two games, he tallied 32 points (and shot 7-for-11 on Saturday) with eight rebounds, 7 assists and six steals.

Much Better Shooting
The Warriors shot much better from the floor last week during the two wins. Prior to the Cal State L.A. game the Warriors had not shot better than 35.1 percent in any of the four previous contests. But during the CCAA match-ups, the Warriors were a combined 44-for-91 for a 48.3 percentage.

The Winning Formula
The Stanislaus men found the winning formula last weekend in the two victories. The Warriors out-shot and out-rebounded the opponents while committing fewer fouls and turnovers. They also held teams to 55 points or less.

20-Win Seasons
Last year's 23-win season was the program's  fourth-best all-time. The Warriors had 20-plus wins as a Division III program when they went 20-8 in 1986-87 under Bob Thomason. John Jones took the Warriors to a 21-8 record in 1988-89, CSU Stanislaus final year as a Division III program.

20-Win Seasons
1986-87    Bob Thomason    20-8
1988-89    John Jones    21-8
1992-93    John Jones    20-8
2013-14    Larry Reynolds    23-9

Program's Best Record
Cal State Stanislaus set a program record with 23 wins in 2013-14, more than doubled the win-total from the previous year (10). The last time a Stanislaus team posted 20 wins was in 1992-93 under John Jones (20-8), the only other time a Warrior team had 20 wins since Cal State Stanislaus became a Division II program.

CCAA Basketball Championships
The 2014-15 CCAA Men's & Women's Basketball Championship tournament will be held March 5-7. Six teams qualify for the event to be held at the Stockton Arena in Stockton. The winner of the tournament would receive the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll
The defending CCAA tournament champions Cal State Stanislaus Warriors were picked to finished third in the upcoming season in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches. The Warriors received two first-place votes and earned 98 points, 10 points behind Cal State San Bernardino, which was picked to finish second. Cal Poly Pomona, which received eight first place votes, was the favor to win the 2014-15 title.