Canisius, Iona, and Rider to Play in Postseason Tournaments
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – Canisius College, Iona College, and Rider University will represent the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in postseason tournaments. Canisius will play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), Iona will participate in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), and Rider will partake in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
Canisius will play host to Dartmouth in a first-round CIT game on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m., in the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius (16-14, 11-9 MAAC) will be playing in the national postseason for the third-straight season, the program’s first run of three-straight postseason appearances since 1993-94 through 1995-96. The Griffs ended a 16-year postseason drought in 2013 when the team made a run to the CIT quarterfinals and the Griffs took part in a CIT first-round game last season, where the team lost to VMI at home.
Iona makes its fifth straight postseason appearance in five seasons under head coach Tim Cluess when it takes on the University of Rhode Island on Tuesday (Mar. 17) in the first round of the 2015 National Invitation Tournament. The No. 6 Gaels (26-8) face the No. 3 and Atlantic 10 semifinalists Rams at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island at 7:00 pm on ESPNU. The Gaels earned an automatic bid into the NIT for the second straight season by virtue of its MAAC regular season championship and 17-3 mark in league play.
Rider has accepted an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational and will play at Loyola Chicago Tuesday. This marks the sixth time in the last eight years that Rider has competed in a postseason tournament. The Broncs (21-11) placed second of 11 teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, winning a program record 15 MAAC games while tying the program record for regular season wins.