MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Home games are crucial elements of any schedule and the 2024-25 Men's Basketball path will feature a lot of pivotal matchups in the friendly confines of Tine Davis Gymnasium, a place that Head Coach Scott Sanderson says is the key to the Eagles getting back into the title picture after an bizarrely injury-riddled 2023-24 season.

"All the years that we won the league,  we either went undefeated at home or lost one game at home. In order to win league championships, you have to win your home games so those games are very, very important…at the same time, you have to win some road games too but you have to win your home games. Prior to last year, our winning percentage at home was extremely high, and hopefully if we keep everybody healthy, we'll get back to that again."

The regular season opens up with three straight home contests highlighted by the Jimmy Faulkner Classic to open the season. Faulkner will take on Paine College out of Georgia to start the season Nov. 1 at 7:30 before taking on Cumberland (Tenn.) 24 hours later. "I don't know a lot about Paine, but I know Cumberland," Sanderson said. "They've had a good program in the Mid-South and been a very solid program in years past. William Carey is coming here to play in this as well. So it's just another quality opponent out of a quality league and will be a challenge for us as well."

The Eagles then take on a couple of in-state HBCUAC foes with a home contest against former SSAC rival Stillman Nov. 5 and a trip to Huntsville to take on Oakwood Saturday night Nov. 9. The Ambassadors will return the game on Nov. 23. 

SSAC play looks a little different this year as the league splits the scheduling, playing one half of the league twice and the other half once. "When you play sides, each side is different on which is stronger from year-to-year," Sanderson said. Conference play opens against the reigning regular season champions UT Southern on Nov. 14 with a matchup at Blue Mountain to follow Saturday. "We played [UT Southern] home and home last year, actually played them really well here and had a chance to win. We didn't play quite so well up there. They got a new coach so there will be some different things with them but they'll be a quality opponent. They had a great year last year," Sanderson said. "Then going to Blue Mountain, it's always a tough place to play over there. Those are two quality opponents starting out in league play."

The Eagles will play a nonconference game against Middle Georgia ahead of the rematch with Oakwood before a Thanksgiving-week trip to Panama City. 

Faulkner will face a pair of NAIA National Tournament teams in the sixth annual Battle at the Beach. The Eagles take on Arizona Christian Monday Nov. 25 and Florida Memorial for a lunchtime contest the next day for a duo of matchups that Sanderson is looking forward to. "Arizona Christian, we just would have never played them if except in the national tournament, we just don't ever see them. I know they come this way down to Florida and play a lot but we just never play against them. I think it's good for us to play somebody different. They've obviously been a top-10, top-15 team in the country or even higher than that the last several years. Florida Memorial, that's the guy [Head Coach Delano Thomas] that was at Shawnee State when we played them here in the national tournament and they were really good. [Florida Memorial] won their league last year and they've been good in [the Sun Conference]. I think both of those teams will be really good again and give us a really good gauge before we go [back] into conference play in January."

Faulkner plays one more conference game and two nonconference matchups before Christmas when it travels to Hattiesburg to take on William Carey. After exams, the Eagles travel to league rival Life for a nonconference matchup before traveling to Stillman two days later. 

Right before the New Year, Southeastern comes back to Tine Davis Gymnasium for the first time since the Fire upset the Eagles in the 2023 NAIA Men's Basketball Second Round. The Fire and Eagles have had a handful of highly entertaining matchups over the past couple of seasons and this matchup sets up to be no different, Sanderson says. "They beat us the year before last and then we went down there and beat them in the SSAC-Sun Challenge down in Florida and beat them down there. They've been a good team in that league for the last several years and they'll be very good, so just another good quality opponent on our schedule again."

The last 14 games of the regular season are in league play with eight being at home, including a five game stretch starting with new SSAC foe Abraham Baldwin coming to Montgomery on January 25. The regular season wraps up with three of the last four games on the road interrupted by senior day on Feb. 20 at 7:30 against Blue Mountain and concluding with a matchup in Mobile against the Rams on Feb. 22. 

The SSAC Men's Basketball Championship, presented by Newk's Eatery, is set for February 26-March 1 at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. The national tournament first and second round is set for March 14-15 at campus sites with the National Championship set for March 20-25 in Kansas City.