MAAC Men's Hoops Gets Underway This Weekend
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – The first weekend of men’s college basketball includes a full slate of games featuring Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams.
Three MAAC teams will tip-off their seasons on Friday, Nov. 8, and each one has the common thread of “new.” Siena and its new head coach Jimmy Patsos opens its season in the annual Albany Cup game, facing defending America East champs Albany at 7 p.m. at the Times Union Center.
Also on Friday at 7, Monmouth will make its debut as a member of MAAC, facing Hofstra on the road. Hofstra is guided by former Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich, who guided the Purple Eagles for 15 years. Rounding out the Friday night slate is Marist, with its first year head coach Jeff Bower, playing at Stony Brook at 8 p.m.
Six more MAAC teams are in action on Saturday, starting with Saint Peter’s playing LIU-Brooklyn at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, with a noon tipoff.
Manhattan, the MAAC’s preseason favorite, will visit La Salle, a 2013 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant, at 2 p.m. Also at 2, the MAAC’s preseason runnerup choice, Iona, will play at Cleveland State.
The MAAC’s two institutions based in the Nutmeg State, Fairfield and Quinnipiac, will both participate in the “Connecticut 6,” a triple-header featuring a field comprised of all Connecticut universities. Quinnipiac, playing its first season in the MAAC, will take on Hartford at 3 p.m., while Fairfield faces Sacred Heart at 8 p.m. The Connecticut 6 event takes place at Fairfield’s home court, the Webster Bank Arena, in Bridgeport, CT.
Rounding out the Saturday schedule is Niagara at Seton Hall, as part of the National Association of the Basketball Coaches (NABC) Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, at 6 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Marist continues its busy weekend by making its home opener on Nov. 10, hosting Elon at 5 p.m.
The final MAAC teams to open play in the 2013-14 season are Canisius, which will host South Dakota on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m., and Rider, which visits Lehigh on Tuesday, Nov. 12.