They’re the defending champs, with a new head coach and plenty of new talent on the roster but the Capilano Blues early returns indicate they’re ready to meet the challenges of a new campaign.

TJ Klim, the team’s new bench boss, got his first PACWEST win in the season opener, a 104-91 victory at Douglas that featured 24 points from first-year import Alfonso Reyes. His charges improved to 2-0 the next night with a gritty 82-66 win in the Royals gym.

Capilano got a quick start in the Saturday rematch, with Kash Lang keying the opening 10 minutes with seven of his eventual 19 points to go along with two assists and steal and a block.

The teams essentially traded buckets in the second and third quarters, enabling CapU to nurse the early cushion they’d built. Transfer Peter Li, who plied his trade at Vancouver Island University the last three seasons, played all 40 minutes at point guard Saturday and scored 15 of his 21 in the second half, including eight in the final frame, to help Capilano seal the win. Li added six boards and four dimes to his stat line along with three steals.

In Friday’s season opener, the Blues dominated the second quarter with the 6-foot-6 Reyes drilling four threes and scoring 14 of his 24 on the night. They added to their lead coming out of halftime with three more triples courtesy of Li and Reyes.

Rookie forward Daniel Abkenar scored six points in five minutes in the fourth as the Blues enjoyed 47 points from their reserves. Zach Hamed scored 14 in his Blues debut while Carter Andrade had eight, including a pair of threes.

Capilano returns to action on Halloween with an 8 p.m. tipoff against Camosun.