The Daytona State Men's Basketball team has been hard at work.  The Falcons are set to tip off the official 2013-2014 season with a home opener Friday, November 1at the L. Gale Lemerand Center on the Daytona Beach campus. The Falcons will play host to Game on Rise Prep Academy at 8:00pm.

The Falcons season opener will mark the official start to Ryan Ridder's head coaching debut. "We're really excited to get the regular season underway. Our guys have worked hard all pre-season and have come together as a group. With so many new faces, we had a lot of teaching to do in a short amount of time." The many new faces Ridder referenced are the 11 new players joining the Falcon roster this season, returning just two student-athletes from the previous season, Mark Prystawski and Ashton Fritz.

The Falcons strong recruiting class and performance in their initial preseason games have caught the eyes of the other coaches in the Florida College System Activities Association. The Falcons were voted 6th in the 2013-2014 preseason poll. Central Florida, the 2013 NJCAA National Champions, claimed the first place ranking, leading all votes with seven. The remaining top five positioned Chipola at 2nd, Northwest Florida and Tallahassee Community College tied for 3rd, and Eastern Florida State claiming the 5th position in the rankings.

Click here for a complete listing of the FCSAA top 10 poll, and to follow the Daytona State Men's basketball team all season long.