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SEASIDE, Calif. -- After opening the season with an impressive win over Pacifica University, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team. will embark on its longest roadtrip ever (3,209 miles) when it heads to Fairbanks, Ak., to play in the CGI Alaska Invitational Nov. 15-17. CSUMB will play host Alaska to open tournament play thursday evening. The Otters will face Colorado Christian (Nov. 16) and and Oklahoma Panhandle (Nov. 17).

Fans can listen live to all games from the tournament on KRXA 540 AM. Video of the games (no audio) will be available at www.AlaskaNanooks.com.

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SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: Alaska opened the season at the AT&T Jamboree in Anchorage, defeating Colorado State–Pueblo 80–76 in overtime before falling to Colorado Christian 72–63. Senior guard Dominique Brinson led five Nanooks in double–figures with 20 points in the win over Pueblo. Junior center Sergej Pucar led Alaska with a 17–point, 13–rebound double–double against Colorado Christian.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Alaska and CSUMB met on one other occasion, with the Otters taking a 90–86 decision in overtime on Nov. 18, 2008. Steve Monreal led all scorers with 28 points, including a CSUMB–record 14-for-14 performance from the free-throw line.

FOR OPENERS: Sunday's win over Pacifica makes the Otters 7–8 in season openers dating back to the 1998–99 season, where the CSUMB record book begins. In season openers in The Kelp Bed, the Otters are now 3–2. Since moving to NCAA play, the Otters are 5–4 in openers.

LARGE MARGINS: Sunday's 104–52 win over Pacifica University set a CSUMB record for largest margin of victory (52 points) in an Otter home win. It's also the third largest victory margin of all–time, trailing only an 87–point win at Life Bible (129–47 on Nov. 7, 1998) and a 53–point win at Southwestern College (106–53 on Nov. 25, 2005).

THE CENTURY CLUB: Sunday's 104–point performance marked the highest–scoring game of the Rob Bishop era, eclipsing the 99 points scored in a 99–88 win at Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 30, 2009. The 104 points are the ninth entry in the CSUMB Century Club and rank No. 5 for points scored in a regulation game.

THE CHILIAD CLUB: Senior guard Brandon Ward began the season knocking on the door of CSUMB's exclusive Chiliad Club. His 19 points Sunday versus Pacifica vaulted him from ninth to seventh place with 859 career points. He needs 141 to become the fourth player in Otter history to score 1,000 career points. Matt Dalhamer owns the CSUMB career record with 1,075 points from 1999–2001.

LENDING A HELPING HAND: CSUMB's 28 assists against Pacifica rank No. 5 on the Otter list for assists in a game. They were the most assists since the Otters dished 32 dimes at Southwestern college on Nov. 25, 2005.

THE WARD GIVETH… Brandon Ward enters the week with 190 career assists, good for No. 2 in the CSUMB record book. D'Shon Cannon owns the top spot with 371 assists from 2006–08.

…AND THE WARD TAKETH AWAY: Brandon Ward continues his quest for the CSUMB career steals record, beginning the week in the No. 5 spot with 70 steals. Next up in fourth place is Steve Monreal with 79 steals. Joe Mitchell holds the record with 91 steals.

START ME UP: Brandon Ward is inching closer to another record, needing just five starts to catch CSUMB record holder Joe Mitchell with 76 career starts. Ward begins the season No. 3 on the list behind D'Shon Cannon (73) and Mitchell (76). Senior forward Derrick Anderson is also well within reach of the record, entering the week No. 5 on the list with 64 starts.

WORKING OVERTIME: One area where the Otters have excelled in the Rob Bishop Era is in overtime. CSUMB was 2–0 in overtime during the 2011–12 season and 6–1 overall when playing bonus basketball under Bishop.

NOW THAT'S SMARTS: After leading the conference with three members of the CCAA All–Academic team in 2011, the Otter men's basketball team built on that success by placing four players on that team in 2012: James Albert, Geoff McIntosh, Brandon Ward and Troy Watkins. CSUMB's seven CCAA All–Academic team members over the last two seasons are tops among the 12 conference schools. Ward, in fact, is a three–year member of the CCAA All–Academic team.

TAKE THEM, THEY'RE FREE: The Otters finished the 2011–12 campaign with an aggregate 71.3 percentage effort from the free–throw line. That mark ranked No. 5 in CSUMB record book and marked the sixth consecutive season the Otters shot at least 71 percent from the charity stripe.

WELCOME BACK: The Otters return all five starters from the 2011–12 roster. Altogether, CSUMB welcomes back 80.1 percent of its scoring and 71.6 percent of its rebounding from last season.

SIT THIS ONE OUT: Freshman Tim Darkwa and junior Rafael Morelos will practice with the team but are expected to redshirt the 2012–13 season.