CLINTON, Iowa - The young season continues for the Ashford University (1-0, 0-0 MCC) men's basketball tomorrow night for the first of back-to-back home games on Friday and Saturday against St. Xavier University and Silver Lake College. Tip off against St. Xavier on Friday is set for 7 p.m.

The Saints will then host the Lakers of Silver Lake College on a busy Saturday following the women's basketball alumni/players scrimmage, with a start time around 3 p.m.

Midwest Collegiate Conference volleyball tournament quarterfinal action then comes around 6 p.m., when Ashford hosts Mt. Mercy College in Kehl Arena (Read AU/Mt. Mercy Preview Here).

"We're excited for a pair of home games and the chance to implement what we've been working on this week," AU Head Coach Andy Eberhart said.

Ashford took care of business in their regular-season opener earlier this week, routing Crossroads College (Minn.), 88-64, behind junior Devin Ehrich's 17 points.

Ehrich, of Thomson, Ill., was 6-of-9 from the field in the first half and was joined in double figures by sophomores Matthias Burns of Chicago and Peter Tanzillo of Kewanee, Ill.

The Cougars of St. Xavier in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) opened their season with a win against Holy Cross College (Ind.). Senior guard Julian Scott went to the same high school (Hillcrest H.S.) as AU sophomore forward Marvis Kidd of Hazel Crest, Ill., and scored a team-high 31 points.

Ashford fell in the 2008 meeting against St. Xavier, 90-71, despite a career-high 31 points from senior guard Daniel Joiner of West Chicago, Ill. Under Eberhart, the Saints last beat the Cougars in 2007 at the St. Ambrose Classic, 88-82.

The Saints collected their second win of the year against Silver Lake in the 2008-09 campaign, riding Joiner's 29 points to a road win in Manitowoc, Wis., 82-68. Silver Lake fell in their season debut to Calumet College of St. Joseph, 84-71.