[Men's Basketball] BENU Picks Up Win at New Year's Classic

A full set of California Pacific Conference opening games is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 10, but as conference teams prepare for league competition, only one team picked up a win in the weeks leading up to the critical part of the season.  Benedictine-Mesa opened the two-day New Year's Classic, hosted by The Master's in Santa Clarita, Calif., with a 79-76 win over San Diego Christian.  Jay Small poured in 26 points and added five assists, and Tre Carolina collected 10 rebounds.  In another first-round game, Embry-Riddle's Conner Verdugo went for 21 points, netting all six of his attempts from beyond the 3-point line, as well as picking up five steals, in a 100-71 loss to Vanguard.