ST.DAVIDS, Pa.– After losing three senior starters to graduation, Eastern University Men's Basketball will feature a new look for the 2017-18 season. Third-year Head Coach Eric McNelley has embraced the challenge of combining several talented newcomers with some more familiar faces and is optimistic about the team's prospects.

"It might take us a little time to really figure out who we are," McNelley said, "but I like the pieces and the potential."

Junior forward Victor Peña figures to be in the middle of things. The 2016-17 first-team All-MAC Freedom performer scored 20 or more points five times and had nine double-doubles in the second half of the season. He averaged 13.4 points and 9.3 rebounds last season.

Austin Duncan and Austin James have both shown the ability to score from the wing. James, a senior, shoots 36 percent from behind the arc and is averaging 7.7 points per game for his career. Duncan, a junior, averaged 11 points per game last season after playing in only seven games as a freshman. Neither one will be expected to carry the offensive load that Shaquan Turk did, but both figure to see a few more shots per game.

Antonio Chapman, a senior transfer, will give the Eagles a backcourt scoring option as a lead guard or playing off the ball with Clifton Adams or Anthony Concepcion. Darius Washington has also shown the ability to score from the perimeter.

McNelley believes that his team will have interior depth that will allow his team to play big. Jordan Johnson is back after missing a year and joins Marquise Peel and newcomers Game Perez and William Blet in a rotation that will allow the Eagles to compete inside.

Eastern will have to compete early. The Eagles open with four tough games in the first week of the season. After hosting a Nationally Ranked Cabrini team in the opener for the Battle of Eagle Road, the Eagles will play at 2017 NCAA Participant Neumann on Saturday before traveling to Division I Lehigh for an exhibition game on Sunday. The gauntlet will wrap up with a Tuesday game at Albright College.

The Eagles were picked second in MAC Freedom preseason poll. The Eagles hosted Misericordia as the second seed last year after finishing tied with Delaware Valley for the best league record last year.

While he was flattered by the pick, McNelley recognizes that his team will need to continue to get better to reach the top level of the league.

"Misericordia brings a ton of scoring back," he said. "There are no easy games in our league or on our schedule."

There are no tickets remaining for the season-opener against Cabrini. Fans who cannot get in can follow the game on Eagle Vision.