AUSTIN, Texas – Returning four players who made at least 10 starts last season, the Concordia Texas men's basketball team is set to begin its 2018-19 campaign with a matchup against Hutson-Tillotson Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside Concordia Fieldhouse.

Led by seniors Joe Neal and Ephriam Price III, CTX will looking be to make a return trip to the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the seventh straight season.

Tornados' head coach Stan Bonewitz is ready for the new campaign "I'm excited about the upcoming season," Bonewitz said. "I feel like we have a good mix of returners and new guys who are blending well, and physically have the potential to be a good team."

Neal, out of Houston, is one of the reasons for optimism as he returns to the team after averaging 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds over 18 total contests last season. The 2016-17 ASC All-Conference selection became the 16th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points in a career.

Price III, from Lake Charles, La., also went over the 1,000-point plateau in his career last season after averaging 18.8 points per contest. A 2017-18 First Team All-ASC West member, Price III currently has the top 3-point field goal percentage in program history at 45.7% while also sitting in 14th place for career points with 1,105.

Neal and Price were joined by junior guard Philip Meikle on the ASC Preseason Players to Watch list. Out of Cypress, Texas, Meikle averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 boards while seeing action in all 28 games for the Tornados last season.

"As usual though, we have really good character guys and guys that can play," Bonewitz said. "Now we'll just have to figure out if we can make the pieces fit. I have been really pleased with the effort the guys have given during this first month."