The 2014-2015 seasons begin for both men's and women's basketball at Benedictine University on Saturday, as both squads will open up at the Dan and Ada Rice Center. At 7:00 p.m., the Eagles will host the nationally-ranked Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University.
 
Benedictine is coming off of a 14-12 season with a 12-8 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record. The regular season results earned the team a trip to the NACC Tournament as the fifth seed, falling to Aurora University 62-56 in the First Round. With nine returnees, the NACC's preseason poll pegged the Eagles for a third-place finish.
 
Illinois Wesleyan of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin has established themselves as a national powerhouse in recent years, having qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the last five seasons. The Titans have finished the last three seasons ranked in the Top 10, and are ranked fourth in this preseason's d3hoops.com poll. Last season, the Titans finished 27-5 and advanced to the National Semifinals for the second time in three years, falling to eventual National Champion Wisconsin-Whitewater.
 
The Eagles and Titans are familiar non-conference opponents, as the teams have met seven times since 2000. Illinois Wesleyan won all seven matchups and has won eight straight in the series, with BenU's last win coming 73-70 on the road on December 9, 1998. The Titans are not the only CCIW team the Eagles face often, as BenU went 1-2 vs CCIW teams last season. Illinois Wesleyan has not lost to a NACC opponent since the conference was formed in 2006, and the last time a team currently in the conference defeated the Titans was BenU's 2008 win.
 
Live audio, video, and statistics will be available for Saturday's contest will be available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/benu/. An in-depth preview of the 2014-2015 men's basketball team can be read here.