November 1, 2007
Men's Basketball Opens 2007 Season Against Colorado School Of Mines This Weekend
Nov. 1, 2007
Complete Weekly Release in PDF Format 
This Week For Northern Colorado Men's Basketball:
Who: Colorado Mines (0-0) at Northern Colorado (0-0)
When: November 4, 2007
Time: 4:05 p.m.
Where: Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion (2,734)
Admission: Free
Radio: None
Television: None
Video Streaming: None
Men's Basketball To Open 2007 Season In An Exhibition Game Against Colorado School Of Mines:
Northern Colorado's men's basketball team will kick off the 2007-08 season with an exhibition contest on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 4, against Division II opponent Colorado School of Mines at 4:05 p.m. The Bears opened the 2006-07 season the same way with a 75-68 victory on Nov. 1, 2006.
Postseason Here We Come:
The Northern Colorado men's basketball team is now eligible to compete in postseason play in 2007 after successfully making the transition to Division I. This year also marks the first year, NC is eligible to win the Big Sky Conference Championship as well as compete in the Big Sky Tournament.
Preseason Choice For Seventh By Coaches And Eighth By Media:
The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team was chosen seventh by the coaches and eighth by the media in the Big Sky's Preseason Poll. The Bears received 19 points in the coaches poll and 56 in the media poll. The polls were also split with Weber State taking the coaches poll and Montana being chosen as the favorite by the media.
Who's Back:
Northern Colorado welcomes back three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team that went 4-24. The three starters returning are seniors Sean Taibi, Kirk Archibeque and Thanasi Panagiotakopolus.
The returners including the three listed above plus Will Figures, Terry Anderson, Neal Kingman, Jefferson Mason and Chris Kaba.
The Newcomers:
The Bears have added seven new faces to the roster this season.
• Jabril Banks-junior-guard/forward
• Devon Beitzel-redshirt freshman-guard
• Chris Deans-freshman-guard
• Monice Garrett-freshman-guard
• Taylor Montgomery-freshman-forward
• Robert Palacios-junior-guard
• Justin Wesolowski-freshman-forward
The Coaching Staff:
Tad Boyle (4-24, 2-14 Big Sky) returns for his second season at Northern Colorado. Boyle brings back two of his assistants from last season in B.J. Hill and Shawn Ellis. NC also welcomes graduate assistant coach Brian Tafel.
On TV:
The Bears will have three games broadcast on televison this season. NC's home game with Colorado State at 6:05 p.m. will be shown by Altitude Sports.
Northern Colorado, as part of the Big Sky's Sunday Game of the Week shown by Altitude Sports and Entertainment, will take on Northern Arizona on December 30 at 2 p.m. The Bears game against Weber State on January 6 at 2 p.m. will also be shown by Altitude.
Double-Doubles:
Senior center Kirk Archibeque ranked tied for fourth in the league as junior with three double-doubles. He tallied double-doubles: at Colorado (12/2/06) with 14 points and 11 rebounds; vs. Eastern Washington (1/4/07) with 24 points and 10 rebounds; at Sacramento State (1/31/07) with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Successfully Bombing Away:
Last season, Northern Colorado as a team ranked third in the league with a .388 three-point percentage (189-487). NC's 189 made three's were the fifth most in the conference. Sean Taibi led the Bears and ranked fifth in the conference with his .456 three-point percentage. Taibi's 82 made three's were the second most in the league. The seniors seven made three-point shots against Denver (11/19/06) placed him tied for second in the conference last season. Sophomore Will Figures also made seven three's for the Bears against Montana State (2/21).
Up Next:
The Bears will officially start the 2007 regular season with a trip to the Air Force Classic from Nov. 9-10. The first opponent for the Bears is VMI on Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. NC will then, depending on tournament results, take on either Air Force or Dartmouth on Nov. 10.
