(Aug. 29, 2008) - With only five days worth of practice as a squad, the ETSU men's basketball team hits the road today for Toronto, Canada, where the Buccaneers will make a three-day, four-game exhibition swing.

            In a first for the program, the Bucs will get an early look at how well their returning eight players and incoming four freshmen will mesh.

            "We've had two weeks of practice with our returning players, and five days with the entire team - including the freshmen," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. "We obviously have rushed to put in some offensive sets and bring the new guys up to speed, but there's a huge learning curve for them. This is obviously something different for us and we're starting much earlier than usual, but I think we'll be able to learn a lot about our team and get a head start on the season. It will allow our coaching staff to get a good look at our team, reassess our incoming players and learn a little about the roles each player will be able to handle during the year."

            The Bucs are scheduled to open play at the University of Guelph at 7 p.m. Saturday night, Aug. 29th. On Sunday, the Bucs will play two games at Sheridan University, with a noon matchup against Waterloo and a 7 p.m. meeting with host Sheridan. On Monday, the team will wrap up the trip with a noon contest at the University of Toronto.

            Other American teams to be participating in the weekend scrimmages include Charlotte and N.C. State. For updates on each game, visit ETSUBucs.com.