Siena Accepts Bid to CBI, Will Host Morehead State Tuesday
MAAC Sports
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The 2014 College Basketball Invitational Champions have accepted a bid to return to the national postseason tournament. The Saints will begin their quest for a second Division I national postseason tournament title when they host Morehead State of the Ohio Valley Conference in First Round action Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Times Union Center.
Tickets to Siena’s First Round game can be purchased through Ticketmaster by clicking the link at the top of the page, or in person at the Times Union Center Box Office beginning at 10 am. Monday. The box office will remain open until 6 p.m. on Monday and reopen Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Tickets for sections 103-107 and 118-122 are priced at $20 and all other sections are $15. Child tickets are $8 and Siena College student tickets are priced at $5. Check back to this release Monday for further updates and information. For information regarding season ticket holder and premium seating options, contact the Siena Fan Relations Center at (518) 487-2202.
The winner of Tuesday’s First Round contest will face the winner of the Duquesne/Omaha matchup in the quarterfinals on Monday, Mar. 21 (host yet-to-be determined). The tournament re-brackets following the quarterfinal round. Now in its ninth season, the CBI features a 16-team field and culminates with a “best-of-three” Championship Series which will be held Mar. 28-Apr. 1 and televised on ESPNU.
Siena makes its 13th Division I national postseason tournament appearance and fifth in the past nine seasons. In addition to winning the CBI in 2014, the Saints have also made six NCAA Tournament and five NIT appearances and boast a stellar 18-12 (.600) all-time record in national postseason tournaments during the program’s Division I era. Siena will be hosting its 16th Division I national postseason tournament home game and 13th in Albany.
Siena enters the CBI with a 21-12 overall record following the program’s 20th 20-win campaign in the 75-season history of Siena Basketball and 16th in the past 32 years. The Saints finished third in the MAAC with a 13-7 league mark, advancing to the conference tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Iona.
Siena has played a challenging schedule this season which has featured nine games against teams currently ranked in the top-77 of the latest NCAA RPI report released Sunday, posting a 3-6 record which includes a victory over St. Bonaventure (30). The Saints’ non-conference RPI currently stands 44th and non-conference strength of schedule is a MAAC-best 66th. The Saints became the first team since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to play its first two games of the season against the defending national champion (Duke) and runner-up (Wisconsin).
Located in Morehead, Ky., Morehead State enters the CBI with a 19-12 overall record. The Eagles finished second in the Eastern Division of the OVC with an 11-5 conference mark and, like Siena, were the No. 3 seed (12 teams) in their conference tournament. Morehead State had won seven straight before succumbing to second seeded UT Martin in the OVC Semifinals.
The Eagles are making their fifth Division I national postseason tournament appearance in the past eight seasons, having advanced to the NCAA Tournament in both 2009 and 2011 and the CBI in 2010 and 2014. Morehead State is led by LSU transfer and Second Team All-OVC selection Corban Collins who averages 11.8 points and 3.1 assists and ranks fourth in the conference shooting 43% from three-point range. Collins is the Eagles’ only double-digit scorer, although Morehead State features a balanced attack which has six players averaging between 7.8 and 11.8 points.
Siena and Morehead State will be meeting for the first time and had no common opponents this season. The matchup will feature two of the top rebounding teams in the country, as the Saints rank 12th nationally in rebound margin (+8.3) and the Eagles are 35th (+5.5). Morehead State also ranks 25th nationally in steals (7.9).
Siena is returning to the postseason for the first time since its magical CBI Championship run in 2014 when the Saints won five games to capture the crown. Siena defeated Fresno State in the best-of-three Championship Series with a decisive 81-68 victory at the ARC in Game Three on Apr. 5, 2014.
The College Basketball Invitational is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, Legends Classic, and the Gotham Classic. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.