VICTORIA - There's a sense of optimism oozing out for the men's basketball coaches' office at McKinnon Gymnasium prior to the start of the Canada West regular season on Friday Nov. 4 when the University of Victoria Vikes men play Trinity Western in Langley, B.C. at 8 p.m.

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In the two-game series - which will conclude Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. - the Vikes will get an immediate sense of where they stand in what is expected to be a Canada West conference of high parity.

Vikes head coach #Craig Beaucamp# said the opening series with Trinity Western is a very difficult one to prepare for based both on a lack of pre-scouting tape and because of the guard-oriented style the Spartans play.

"They play small ball," Beaucamp said. "They're small, quick, they put on lots of pressure, the dribble penetrate, the run the ball and push the ball and attack the rim. They run a lot of motion and they are quick."

Trinity Western played a tour in China as part of their non-conference preparation. And while they lose former Vike and conference all-star Jacob Doerksen, the Spartans have a few game-changing transfer with wing-guard and former Ottawa Gee-Gee Sean Peter (Ottawa) and fleet-footed, six-foot-eight guard Kyle Coston, a transfer from Portland State.

"The put a lot of pressure on you guarding the ball and defend well in transition and pressure in their match-ups," Beaucamp said. "We're developing, we're learning how to play and develop a different style. We will need to be sound fundamentally and play better defence than we have."

The Vikes went 1-5 in non-conference play with a 1-2 showing against CIS competition. (FULL SCHEDULE) However, Beaucamp said there have been good signs of progression and improvement with lessons learned. There is a lot of potential with this program, so much so that there's a level of excitement surrounding the Vikes.

"We've been OK, we have a number of new players in the fold and it's a challenge to get everyone to where we wnat them to be," Beaucamp said. "But we're taking everything in stride to where we want to get. We have the opportunity to be a playoff team and to get out of the Canada West."

And this season, the teams that get out of the Canada West could have a legitimate shot and making the championship game in a year with one frontrunner and a lot of unknowns.

"There is only one team in the country that scares me - that's Carleton - and then the rest of the country, the conference is very open," Beaucamp said. "It's very motivating knowing this, the gap between the top and bottom of our league is very tight. Everyone's chasing Carleton."

Led by the guard trio of #Ryan MacKinnon#, #Zac Andrus# and #Michael Acheampong# and forward #Mike Berg#, the Vikes will have a lot of depth at the 2, 3 and 4 positions. Freshmen #Reiner Theil# and #Vijay Dhillon# are expected to make an immediate impact, while Yakima College transfer #Terrell Evans# provides a strong, agile forward with outside range. (ROSTER)

Guards #John Woldu# and #Reese Pribilsky# add great depth off the bench, while #Pierce Anderson#, #Andy Kaila# and #Ryan Erikson# provide options at forward. #Chris McLaughlin#, the tallest Vike at six-foot-10, adds great inside presence.

Beaucamp said the first half of the schedule will present challenges but that it's less about what their record is and more about making progress.

"I know that's cliche but we have to progress and it's about being better every day," Beaucamp said. "In the Canada West, Saskatchewan looks like they'll be tough, Fraser Valley looks tough and UBC lost a lot but I expect they'll be there again. The top to bottom got a lot closer."

Beaucamp said he beleives a record of 6-2 or better will make the basketball coaching group pretty happy.

"We need to steal some games on the road," Beaucamp said. "We have to take care of our home games, they are important, the travel in this league is always tough. We don't want to play our selves out of contention so we need to be at 6-2 or better and I think we'll be in good shape."