MHERST -- Before last night, Ronell Blizzard was a mystery man to University of Massachusetts men's basketball fans, a player who reportedly could shoot but spent last year on the sidelines, waiting to get healthy.

But he's healthy now, and after last night's 84-82 exhibition win over Team Fokus at Mullins Center, he's not a mystery man any more but by first impressions at least, a new face who can help.

"I've worked all year to play," said Blizzard, a 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman forward who scored nine points with four rebounds and two blocked shots in 13 minutes.

Last night's visiting team showed up and announced its name was no longer the Converse All-Stars, as had been advertised, but Team Fokus. The team that was in pretty good focus, however, was UMass, which lived up to coach Bruiser Flint's preseason promise of playing a more up-tempo style.

"It's not going to be breakneck and frantic like it was in this game," Flint cautioned. "But we've had a tendency to stand around and just throw it into Lari Ketner all the time and that won't work. And I thought Blizz played great."

Blizzard played one preseason game last year, then took a medical redshirt with foot problems. He's expected to lend an outside shooting touch to the small forward position, and last night he shot 4-for-4, including a 3-pointer.

"I played that one exhibition last year, so it wasn't completely new to me," Blizzard said. He even had a fake tooth jarred loose in the first half, but that didn't stop his game.

Ajmal Basit (top) and Lari Ketner (bottom) both matched up with Team Fokus's Carlton Ferguson on and off the court.

UMass plays its second and final exhibition game Wednesday at home against Marathon Basketball, then opens it the Preseason NIT Nov. 16 against Niagara at Mullins.

Blizzard wasn't the only bright spot. Forward Ajmal Basit scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and sophomore guard Rafael Cruz had 14 on 6-for-11 shooting. Ketner scored 11 points with eight rebounds.

"Our rotation is deeper, so guys won't get tired even with us playing faster," Cruz said. "I like it."

UMass guard Monty Mack (hand injury) and forward Kitwana Rhymer (ankle) didn't play. Mack's absence was most noticed in the starting backcourt shooting statistics, with Jon DePina going 2-for-10 and Charlton Clarke 1-for-10.

In fact, the best UMass 3-point shooter yesterday was Flint, who won the coaches' 3-point contest yesterday morning at Atlantic 10 media day in Philadelphia. But after going 0-for-7 on first-half 3-point attempts, UMass went 3-for-4 in the second half and shot 52.6 percent overall after halftime, and 47.9 percent for the game.

"Some of us were a little nervous at the beginning," Basit said.

Mike Babul pushes it up-court.

But the second half was better, and Cruz fed Mike Babul for a dunk that gave the Minutemen a 77-71 lead with 4:47 left.

Team Fokus rallied for an 82-82 tie before 6-10 UMass junior college transfer Anthony Oates hit the first of two foul shots with 17.4 seconds left. Oates missed the second, but Chris Kirkland tipped the rebound back out to the foul line, and Charlton Clarke was fouled, hitting one of two free throws.

On Team Fokus' final possession, former Rhode Island star guard Tyson Wheeler had a last shot to tie, racing down the left wing for a running 15-footer. But Wheeler's shot bounced off the backboard, and the crowd of 5,337 went home happy.

Team Fokus wasn't so much a basketball team as it was a collection of players who wound up in the same gym on the same night. Thirty minutes before game time, it was reported that the Minutemen's opposition would have at least six players, and perhaps as many as 12.

But the eight who showed up weren't bad, including Wheeler (21 points), guard Pete Philo of South Alabama (18), West Virginia's P.G. Greene (17) and North Carolina's Bryan Reece (13). Former UMass forward Ted Cottrell also played for Team Fokus.

MHERST - Judging from its first exhibition game last night, the University of Massachusetts, expected to be one of the deepest teams in the Atlantic 10, will have even more bench strength than anticipated.

The two players who stood out most in the Minutemen's 84-82 win over Team Fokus were hardly a factor in last season's 22-win campaign.

Sophomore guard Rafael Cruz, who played sparingly last season, scored 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Sophomore forward Ronnell Blizzard, who was redshirted last season, had 9 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor and added four rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes.

Earlier in the day at Philadelphia, the A-10 coaches and selected media made their preseason picks.

Temple received 34 first-place votes to repeat in the East, followed by UMass with 12 and Rhode Island with 2. Xavier received 39 first-place votes to repeat in the West, followed by George Washington with 6 and Dayton with 2.

In addition to their preseason polls, the coaches and media announced their all-conference team. First-team honors went to Lamont Barnes of Temple, Lari Ketner of UMass, Lenny Brown of Xavier, James Posey of Xavier, and Shawnta Rogers of George Washington.

MHERST - Two players forgotten a year ago turned in impressive performances Thursday to lead the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team to an 84-82 win over Team Fokus (formerly the Converse All-Stars) in an exhibition game at the Mullins Center.

Redshirt freshman Ronell Blizzard and sophomore Rafael Cruz stood out for the Minutemen in an otherwise sloppy outing.

Despite losing a tooth in a collision midway through the first half, Blizzard shined in 13 minutes of action.

Shortly after entering the game, he leaped to pin a Justin Phoenix shot against the backboard for his first of two blocked shots.

Offensively, the 6-foot-8 forward displayed an impressive collection of offensive skills. he was 4-for-4 from the floor.

Bruiser cheers his boys on.

"Blizz ... did some nice things for us tonight," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint.

Blizzard scored four of UMass' last six points in the first half, both in the paint, before getting called for an over-the-back foul that will earn him a trip to the dentist's chair.

Wearing a mouthpiece in the second half, he hit a mid-range jumper early. To the delight of the 5,337 fans on hand, he finished with a three-pointer that put UMass ahead, 70-68. The Minutemen never trailed after that.

"I had an opportunity to play in the preseason exhibition last year so this wasn't an entirely new experience for me," Blizzard said. "I worked all last year toward playing games this year and I got better."

Rafael Cruz goes for the layup as former Minuteman Ted Cottrell (#2) tries to defend.

After riding the bench most of last season, Cruz played well in increased action late in the season. Thursday, he picked up where he left off.

With backcourt mates Charlton Clarke (1-for-10) and Jonathan DePina (2-for-10) struggling from the floor, Cruz stepped forward.

"Rafael ... shot the ball well and he played hard," said Flint.

Cruz' 14 points were second only to Ajmal Basit (16). Cruz shot 6-for-11 from the field, showing range on his jumper and ability to drive to the basket.

"I'm just trying to keep my turnovers down and to do the best I can," Cruz said. "Last year was a learning experience for me. I definitely wasn't ready at the beginning. I worked over the summer and I feel a little more confident to do what I can do."

As a unit, the Minutemen improved throughout the game, as unfamiliarity with the new up-tempo style led to 15 first-half turnovers. The teams were tied 34-34 at intermission.

"Some of us were a little nervous in our first game," Basit said. "We just had to get into the flow of the game and settle down."

Waiting out NBA lockout

Led by ex-Rhode Island star Tyson Wheeler, Team Fokus opened the second half with a 15-6 run. Wheeler is playing with Fokus, while waiting for the NBA lockout to end. He was a second-round draft choice of Toronto.

UMass finally harnessed its offense, scoring 21 fast-break points down the stretch to pull ahead by as many as six (78-72) with 4:12 left. However, Fokus rallied to tie it at 82-82 with 1:25 left.

Anthony Oates muscles in.

New Minuteman center Anthony Oates struggled at times in his debut, but he grabbed a rebound with 17 seconds left and was fouled. He made one of two free throws to put UMass ahead to stay. Clarke added another point from the line to close the scoring.

"Anthony was fine," Flint said. "For his first game in front of the home crowd, that was a big foul shot for him."

Flint attributed the narrow margin of victory to an excessively uptempo style of play.

"We're not going to play that way. It's not going to be breakneck frantic like it was tonight," Flint said. "There were times that we would have slowed it up and ran a play, but we didn't. We just pushed the ball up the court, because we wanted to work on getting to the right spot. That's what these games are for."

Former Minuteman Ted Cottrell played for Team Fokus, scoring two points in 11 minutes.

Winston Smith with the jumper.

MHERST -- The University of Massachusetts opened its men's basketball season last night with an 84-82 win over Team Fokus, the team that used to be the Converse All-Stars. But the big question of the night surrounded guard Monty Mack.

The junior from South Boston was in street clothes, as an investigation continued into his role in an altercation in a UMass cafeteria. Mack actually was out of action because of a laceration on his left hand, an injury unrelated to the fight. He has also been idled by the ongoing investigation, which may come to a head at a show-cause hearing in Hampshire County District Court on Nov. 20, for an assault charge against Mack.

"We've got to get all the information. To be honest with you, I don't have it and I don't think anybody really has it," UMass coach Bruiser Flint said in answer to a question about Mack after the game. "You can't make a decision.

"He's been a good kid, on and off the court. He hasn't caused any problems. He's worked hard in school, he's a nice kid," Flint added.

The university is continuing to look into the matter.

Flint, meanwhile, is looking at how the rest of his Minutemen performed against last night's foe.

"I thought we played well in spurts," said Flint. "The tough thing is we'll have a group going good, and you'll sub. That's what happened today.

"I was a little upset because I thought guys who have been here for a while played tentative in the first half and I wanted them to step up and play. It was an exhibition game."

Ajmal Basit led three Minutemen who scored in double figures, netting 16 points. Rafael Cruz came off the bench to score 14 points and Lari Ketner added 11. Former University of Rhode Island guard Tyson Wheeler led Team Fokus with 21 points.

The Minutemen rallied to tie the game 34-34 at halftime. After taking a 38-35 lead with 19:06 left, Team Fokus jumped out to lead by as many as nine points, before UMass chipped away. Ronell Blizzard drained a three-pointer with 6:20 to go, giving the Minutemen a 70-68 lead that they held the rest of the way.

"There were three guys I really wanted to see ," said Flint, referring to Blizzard, Cruz and reserve center Anthony Oates. "They make us deeper. Those three guys did a good job."

Blizzard shot 4-for-4 from the field for eight points and he had four rebounds. Cruz was 6-of-11 from the floor, while the 6-foot-10 Oates had four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.

UMass did run the ball a lot and picked up 23 turnovers for their troubles.

"We played up-tempo, but you've got to realize that it's not going to be break-neck frantic like tonight," said Flint. "I wanted us to work on getting to the spots, and seeing where certain plays were going to come from.

Picked 2nd in league

UMass has been picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 Conference's East Division, in a vote of the conference's head coaches and media members.

At yesterday's Media Day festivities in Philadelphia, Temple was voted as the pre-season favorite to win the East Division, while Xavier was voted the pre-season pick in the West Division.

Minuteman center Ketner was voted to the preseason All-Conference first team.