The 2019-20 Clark Atlanta University men's basketball season begins today when the Panthers host Barry University in L.S. Epps Gymnasium at 2 p.m.  Admission is free today.

The Panthers are coming off a 2018-19 season, the first under head coach George Lynch, in which CAU went 14-12, 10-7 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference  The Panthers started that season slow, but won five of their last seven regular season games and advanced to the second round of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. 

This season, CAU has been picked to finish third in the SIAC East Division and they feature the SIAC's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in senior Romaine Thomas.  Thomas, a senior from The Bronx, N.Y., averaged 11.8 points and nine rebounds per game last season, finishing third in the conference in rebounding.

Thomas had 16 points and eight rebounds when these same two teams met early last season when Barry defeated CAU 69-57 in Miami Shores, Fla.

Senior Tyler Singleton, a transfer from Prairie View A&M, leads a group of Panther newcomers.  The guard led Clark Atlanta with 13 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots, in the Panthers exhibition loss to Division I Vanderbilt last week.  Fellow transfer Justin Longstreet had 12 points.

They face a Barry University team that was picked to finish third in the Sunshine Conference this season after finishing 18-11 last year. The Buccaneers made it to the SSC tournament semifinals last season but failed to earn an NCAA Division II tournament bid for the first time since 2013. 

They return ten players from last season's squad, including Tylan Birts, a member of the Sunshine Conference's All-Newcomer team who averaged 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and guards Evan Walshe and David Moya.

After Saturday's game, the Panthers are back on the floor Monday in L.S. Epps Gymnasium at 7 p.m. when they host Palm Beach Atlantic University.