Taylor Coppenrath may or may not suit up tomorrow for the Mansfield Mountaineers.

Either way, the Binghamton University men’s basketball team will finally get to play against competition other than themselves as they host their first exhibition game of the season at the Events Center at 7 p.m.

The game will help head coach Al Walker evaluate where his team stands at this point.

“I think we have been really working hard,” Walker said. “I would like to see where our defense and our transition offense are at.”

Mansfield, a D-II team, finished first last year in the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with an 18-11 overall record. They are led by seniors David Hoopes and Carlos Collazo. Hoopes, a 6’2” senior guard, was second on the team last year averaging 13.1 points per game and led the team with 2.9 three-pointers per game. Collazo, a 6’8” senior forward All-PSAC East pick, led the team shooting 56.3 percent from the field and was second on the team averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.

The Bearcats have four starters returning from last year’s 12-17 team that lost in the America East semifinals to Vermont. Leading the way will be senior guard Andre Heard, who was named to the preseason All-Conference team. Last year, Heard was ranked ninth in the league and first on the team in scoring with 14.3 ppg.

Alongside Heard in the backcourt will be junior Troy Hailey and sophomore Mike Gordon. Hailey was second on the team in scoring averaging 9.1 ppg while Gordon was second on the team with 25 steals. In the frontcourt, the Bearcats are led by senior forward Sebastian Hermenier and sophomore forward Jordan Fithian. Hermenier led the team with 6.5 rpg while Fithian added 3.2 boards.

Binghamton will also have returning senior guard Schafer Jackson, who shot 33.3 percent from behind the arc and 81.5 percent from the free throw line. Freshman Ian Milne and sophomore Giovanni Olomo, who both red shirted last year, could play key roles this season too.

“Our top seven or eight guys have a distinct comfort level above the remaining number of players,” Walker said. “There is a gap right now between the first group and second group.”

Walker also hopes to get the newcomers for the Bearcats some playing time in tomorrow’s exhibition game.

“The new guys are working hard, but there is a real lot to be said for experience,” Walker said. “I hope all of them will play in the exhibition games.”

With a mix of returning and new players, the Bearcats hope to demonstrate what an exciting team this could be.