TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (January 4, 2018) - The Salt Lake Community College Bruins played an admittedly tough preseason for two reasons, with the first reason being to create a resume that will impress the body that makes up the NJCAA national tourney.

The Bruins earned several wins over national powers in the preseason, including wins over nationally-ranked Odessa College, Trinity Valley Community College and Central Arizona College. Salt Lake is leaving the preseason behind with a record of 14-3, including a 3-0 run in the recent College of Southern Nevada-hosted CSN Holiday Tourney. Yes, the Bruins made sure the first reason counted.

But what remains of the phantom second reason? The second reason the Bruins played one of the nation's toughest preseasons was to prepare for running a gauntlet of supreme challenge, otherwise known as playing the league schedule of the Scenic West Athletic Conference. The 12-game challenge begins on Saturday as Salt Lake travels to USU Eastern, starting a two-month sojourn that will see Salt Lake crisscross the Intermountain West in the hopes of gaining supremacy in the Region 18 tournament.

For Bruins coach Betsy Specketer, everything that's occurred in the preseason has been totally focused on preparing for the task that lies immediately in front of the Bruins.

"The start of SWAC play is always exciting," she said. "We feel good about the progress that we made in the first half of the season and are really looking forward to the challenges ahead."

The game against USU Eastern will provide a good challenge to open conference play. The Eagles are 13-4, including seven-consecutive wins before they fell to the Southern Utah All-Stars on Dec. 29 in the aforementioned CSN tournament. The in-state duo have played several common opponents, with Western Nebraska besting the Eagles after getting beaten by Salt Lake. The Eagles and Bruins are nearly tied in scoring offense and defense, meaning the battle is fairly even statistically.

In the veteran Specketer's eyes, the game will come down to execution in critical situations.

"USU Eastern is a very good team with two of the best three-point shooters in the conference," she said. "They're well-coached and really make you guard them in the half court. Defense, especially defending the three-point shot, will definitely be a key."

Salt Lake's home SWAC opener will come on Thursday, Jan. 11 as the Bruins host nationally-ranked College of Southern Idaho. The home opener will be streamed on live.ksl.com.