TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (November 9, 2021) – The Salt Lake Community College Athletic Department is firmly in the Winter Sports season, with a pair of Fall programs sitting aside this week in preparation for the postseason.
 
No. 1 SLCC Men's Basketball will open Scenic West Athletic Conference play on the road Tuesday, then returning home for a full slate of games in the 'Bruin Classic'. SLCC Women's Basketball will play its first home games this weekend in tournament action.
 
For more information, visit slccbruins.com.
 
Men's Basketball: The No. 1 Bruins opened the season in strong fashion last weekend, earning a win over No. 24 Northeastern Junior College to open the 2021-22 season.
 
SLCC will play a rare early Scenic West Athletic Conference opener this week, traveling to play at USU Eastern on Tuesday. The Bruins will then return home to play in the SLCC-hosted 'Bruin Classic', facing Eastern Wyoming Friday and Laramie County Community College Saturday.
 
Salt Lake coach Kyle Taylor said he was impressed by the intensity his team showed in the opening weekend.
 
"We had a good opening weekend," he said. "I liked the intensity and defensive pressure that we played with for all 80 minutes on Friday and Saturday. We need to clean up our fouls, as we fouled too much, but I'd rather them be playing hard and aggressive and have to tone them down a bit, compared to getting them to play harder."
 
Taylor also discussed the challenge of playing on the road so early in the season, particularly against former coaching colleague Bill Evans and USU Eastern.
 
"It's a big game in general," said Taylor. "But it's also our SWAC opener really early in the season, so we need to be ready for it. Our only conference loss on the road in my two years came at Price, so it's a very tough place to play. Coach Evans does a great job with those guys and runs a terrific zone, and they are really disciplined in it. 
 
"Over the weekend, we have Eastern Wyoming, who is solid, and a very athletic Laramie County team. I would expect LCCC to get into the rankings this week as they have a talented group that has several NCAA Division-I players, and a lot of size and quality athleticism."
 
Women's Basketball: The SLCC Women's Basketball program will play its home openers this week, returning to Taylorsville after a pair of disappointing losses in Texas.
 
Salt Lake went just 1-2 this past weekend, with the hopes of returning home to momentum in this weekend's 'Bruin Classic'. SLCC will face off against a pair of regional foes this week, playing both spectrums of the 'Equality State' with games against Eastern Wyoming and Western Wyoming.
 
Bruins coach Marcilina Grayer said the previous weekend's games in Texas provided a template for improvement.
 
"This past week of play highlighted areas that we need to improve on while also showcasing our depth on the bench," she said. "I am excited with what we have to work with."
 
Grayer noted this upcoming weekend's games will provide a strong test for her program.
 
" Eastern Wyoming will be a tough match up for our post players, with them being undersized," he said. "This will be a good challenge for our post players to keep the ball in front of them. Western Wyoming will be a better matchup on paper, with them having more of a inside presence. Both games will be good and will challenge us in different areas."