The Tigers got their first taste of college action for the season with an 80-75 loss to the Sports Power Professionals.  The SPP is made up of former and current pro players from here and overseas.  Fourteen players saw action for the Tigers as Coach Bailey made sure that everyone was able to get some jitters out before the season begins.  “Tonight was not about winning the game,” said Bailey.  “Tonight was about seeing how we looked with what we have worked on and to see what we needed to cover right away.  I was happy with the way our guys battled the pros tonight.  These guys are grown men with loads of college and pro experience and at one time we had three freshman and two sophomores out there and they held their own.  We just need to sharpen up some things before the season starts and then improve every game.”

The Tigers showed a couple different lineups tonight.  A quicker, guard style of play and another group with 6’5″, 6’6″, 6’7″, 6’7″ and 6’9″ all on the floor together.  “I really like this lineup at times,” said Bailey.  “We can be really big and this group can still really shoot the three.  This team will give us a lot of options but we need to mature on the floor quite a bit. We didn’t control the game as well as I would have liked, especially late in the game when we were up six.”

The Tigers were led by Senior Zach Schutte with 19 points.  Greg Salmon chipped in with 12, Nick Mascorro had 10 and BJ VanLoo 9.

The Sports Power Professionals were led by Terrence Shaw (Ferris State University) with 23.  Brian Edwards (Cornerstone University) hit for 22 and Adrian McDaniels (MCC) had 10.  Larry Logan (Centennary) and Julian Logan (Florida International) each had 5.

The Tigers will travel to Sault Ste. Marie, MI on the 27th to take on NCAA II Lake Superior State University in their second exhibition game.