PORTLAND, Ore. — The defending Northwest Conference Tournament champion Lewis & Clark College men's basketball team released its 2025-26 schedule, which includes non-conference trips to California and Texas, a December exhibition at an NCAA Division I opponent, and a conference schedule beginning in early January.

The River Otters open at home against three NAIA opponents, starting Saturday against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Arizona at 7 p.m. inside Pamplin Sports Center. They stay in Portland the following week to meet Simpson University on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. and Warner Pacific University on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.

Lewis & Clark plays its first road games later in the month on a three-game California trip. The River Otters face the University of La Verne on Nov. 21, Occidental College on Nov. 22, and Whittier College on Nov. 24. All three compete in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

After Thanksgiving, the River Otters travel to the University of Portland for an exhibition on Dec. 5, then host UC Santa Cruz of the Coast-to-Coast Conference on Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.

The team closes non-conference play with two games in Texas, visiting Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference member LeTourneau University in Longview on Dec. 20 and American Southwest Conference member East Texas Baptist University in Marshall on Dec. 21.

Conference action begins Jan. 2 at the University of Puget Sound and Jan. 3 at Pacific Lutheran University, which finished second in the 2024-25 regular season. The River Otters' Northwest Conference home opener follows on Jan. 9 against George Fox University.

Lewis & Clark hosts both teams it defeated in last year's NWC Tournament on Jan. 16-17. Whitman College, the tournament runner-up, visits first, followed by regular-season champion Whitworth University.

The River Otters play three consecutive home weekends in late January, hosting Linfield University on Jan. 24, Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 30, and Puget Sound on Jan. 31. The home schedule also includes Pacific University on Feb. 6 and Willamette University on Feb. 21.

Road conference contests include Pacific on Jan. 10, Willamette on Jan. 23, George Fox on Feb. 7, Whitworth on Feb. 13, Whitman on Feb. 14, and Linfield on Feb. 20.

Lewis & Clark finished fourth in the 2024-25 regular season before winning the Northwest Conference Tournament to claim the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in 23 years. The River Otters, competing last season as the Pioneers, posted a 9-7 conference record and a 15-13 overall mark.

The team returns six seniors and four sophomores from that championship roster.

NWC tip-offs are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Saturdays following the women's games.