For the first time since 2008, the Lancers will get an early momentum boost by playing their home opener in December. And this year they return home to face Kirkwood following two impressive wins, the first against CBC to claim third place in the Pattonville Tournament and another over Marion High School in Illinois.

“It’ll help us tonight and in the long run. Coming off wins gives us confidence in general and we feel like we can play with anyone in the state,” senior Luke Robbe said, “(Tonight) should be fun with the Superfans and the blackout. We love playing at home because any sort of crowd gives us something to feed off of.”

In addition to those previous two victories, the 3-1 Lancers also defeated Jennings to open the Pattonville Tournament and took Chaminade to triple overtime in an 80-76 loss.

Senior Joel Pennington leads the team in scoring averaging 16.3 points game and senior Nick Messer has proved his consistency with double digit points in all four games. Senior Luke Kreienkamp has cooled off with just 11 points over his last two games, but remains the team’s primary low-post threat.

Kirkwood also enters tonight’s game with a 3-1 record and is led by two guards, Myles Artis and Randall Clark, that are averaging 12.5 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. As a team the Pioneers are scoring nearly 57 points per game so far.

Tonight’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Lafayette Gym.