1 A new leader. Jim Hayford gets the point: this has been a troublesome position almost since the day he arrived from Whitworth in 2011. That’s when incumbent point Glen Dean departed for Utah; 18 months later, Justin Crosgile quit in midseason. Now it’s up to junior college transfer Drew Brandon, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior from Corona, Calif., to run the offense. Brandon impressed Hayford with his ability to control the pace of the game – fast or slow – and his composure. Brandon was multiple a threat last year at Sierra College, averaging 15.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals. 2 Hitting the glass. The Eagles were second in the Big Sky last year in first-shot field-goal defense. The killer was second and third shots, the product of a minus-4.2 rebound differential for the season and minus-3.3 in conference games. For the year, opponents grabbed 420 offensive rebounds, 78 more than the Eagles. Besides the maturation of forward Venky Jois (9.0 rebounds a game) and center Martin Seiferth (6.3 rpg), Hayford expects more boards from hard-working 6-6 small forward Thomas Reuter, the 6-4 Brandon and 6-3 shooting guard Tyler Harvey.
