The Memorial men's basketball team will start their season this weekend in Prince Edward Island for a 2-game series against the UPEI Panthers.

The Sea-Hawks finished the pre-season 2-5, with trips to Ontario and Quebec. When speaking with Head Coach Peter Benoite his takeaways from the pre-season were, "we have a few things we can work on, and we know what needs to be done to fix them."

Memorial comes into the season facing a young UPEI team that struggled in the preseason, with a record of 1-9. Although the Panthers struggled, they are a skilled team that is very hopeful that they will compete for a playoff berth, and the Hawks will have to take care of business to get some wins.

Benoite is not worrying too much about their opponent at this point in the season, but instead focusing more on what they need to do as a team. He added, "the team needs to improve on the defensive side, work more on fundamentals, and that they need to move the ball more on the offensive side."

Benoite also stated that the team is dealing with a few injuries to some key players, which forced them to sit out a few preseason games. He says the team is being cautious, but hopes to have everyone available for the weekend. "We plan to take the season game by game, and make sure we compete to give ourselves a chance to win each and every night."

First year forward Emanuel Ring is excited to get on the road to start his rookie season, and says he is feeling good coming off a strong preseason, which seen him lead the team in scoring in multiple games.

When asked about the challenges of playing on the road against UPEI, Ring said "We have to play hard and remember to not take plays off. Being on the road shouldn't affect us too much, because all preseason we've been on the road. We're used to playing in other teams gyms."

The Sea-Hawks will have to work to their strengths and push the pace against an equally young team in the Panthers. This matchup puts two of the youngest teams in the AUS against each other, so look for an energetic, fast-paced matchup between the two this weekend.

The Sea-Hawks play Saturday at 8:30PM NST and Sunday at 3:30PM NST. You can watch the team play live on austv.ca, keep up with the scores on Twitter, or watch the live scoring at www.goseahawks.ca.