Pine Bluff, Ark. - On Friday, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff basketball coach George Ivory announced that the Golden Lions would play a handful of exhibition games in Ottawa and Montreal this August.

The Golden Lions will head north of the border to Canada for eight days in August, playing five games against professional teams.

The trip will give UAPB young roster, which features some talented group of newcomers and returning starters, additional time to practice and play before the 2016-17 season begins in November.

The early exhibition games plus the allotted practice time would give Ivory the opportunity to work with a team that loses two starters off last year's young talented team and will also see the influx of three new freshmen and four junior college players.

  "Also it gives our program plenty of exposure, like several of the major D1 programs in the country." This trip will give our players some bonding time, where we can come together as a team.   "This is something the players and staff are looking forward to," Ivory said.

"We are going to be a very deep athletic team going into this year, that will really help is push the tempo, Ivory mentioned."

College basketball teams are allowed to travel overseas for exhibition games once every four years. This will be the Golden Lions first trip for the men's program in school history.