Monterey Peninsula men's basketball

Monterey Peninsula College (15-14, 6-6)
 A five game improvement in the win column last season propelled the Lobos back into the playoffs, albeit briefly.
 Just two players that saw significant time last year for the Lobos have returned as head coach Blake Spiering begins his 18th season at MPC.
 Both have been impressive in the teams first eight games as Talili Leaea has produced five double-doubles while Anthony Dennis has been in double figures in the scoring column eight times.
 The 6-foot-11 Leaea has been a beast on the boards for the Lobos in non-conference play, giving the team a physical presence in the paint.
 "We've been able to make adjustments early in the season," Spiering said. "That hasn't always been the case. I really like the this group and how well they work together."
 The Lobos have consistently put three players in double figures this year with Muezzin Muwwakkil and Seaside graduate Matthew Briscoe getting into the mix.
 Briscoe, the Pacific Division Player of the Year last season at Seaside, has got himself in the rotation along with Marquis Pickrom, Quinn Ryan and Cyle Carter.
 MPC's early season struggles are coming in the second half. It has held halftime leads in five of its first seven games this year, losing a pair of games by two and five points.
 Part of that can be attributed to the fact that Spiering does not have a lot of experience on his roster with 14 freshmen. The non-conference season has been on-the-job training.
 He's also got a strong local presence with six former county players, including 6-7 Josef Kolpaczyk  and sharpshooter Jamez Booker, both of which prepped at Trinity.
 "What this group is already allowing me to do is run multiple offensive sets and multiple defensive schemes," Spiering said. "We haven't been able to do that in the past at this point of the season."
 Which gives Spiering reason to believe he's got this group going in the right direction, with Dennis and Leaea leading by examples.
 "I like our team chemistry," Spiering said. "Something you have to be able to do at the college level is adjust quickly. Every team you play is very good."