EDISON, NJ (Jan. 21, 2025) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced, that the Friday, January 31 men’s basketball matchup that will feature I-87 rivals Siena College at Marist College, has be flexed to ESPNU as part of the MAAC Wildcard Game package. The primetime game will tip at 9 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, New York inside of McCann Arena.
 
The matchup will be clash between a pair of top five units in the current standings, with the Red Foxes tied for second and Saints tied for fifth. The wildcard selection for Marist is the third over the past two seasons after playing in a pair of ESPNU contests last year, which included hosting a March 1 game against Fairfield University. Siena will be making its first ESPNU wildcard selection since the 2022-23 season, when that squad played in a trio of games on the network. This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams who will meet again exactly two weeks from the day on Friday, February 14 at MVP Arena in Albany, NY.
 
The Marist Red Foxes (13-3, 6-1 MAAC) are ranked second in the league standings along with Merrimack College, following a 6-0 start to the conference stanza, the best in the program’s 28-year history as a member of the MAAC. The team’s 13 wins are the most overall in the league and their 13-3 mark is the program’s second-best start through 16 games. Marist owns the best scoring margin in the MAAC at 3.9 and are holding opponents to the second-least scoring average at 64.5. The Red Foxes are the league’s top field goal shooting team, making .456 percent of their attempts, and hold the second-best defensive field goal percentage, giving up .404 percent per game. In their seven MAAC games this season, the Red Foxes have held opponents to a league-low, 59.7 points per game. Last time out, Marist dropped its first MAAC game of the year, falling to Rider University, 64-57 at home, snapping the team’s nine game winning streak. The defeat was also the team’s first defeat in Poughkeepsie this season. Marist will travel to Western New York for a pair of road bouts ahead of the ESPNU matchup, taking on Niagara University (January 23) and Canisius University (January 25).
 
The Siena Saints (8-10, 3-4 MAAC) currently sit in a five-way tie for fifth place in the MAAC standings following the weekend’s action in which the team went 1-1. The Saints earned a convincing 93-75 home win over MAAC newcomer Sacred Heart University on Thursday, before falling to Merrimack 64-58 on the road Saturday afternoon. Siena is one of four teams in the conference scoring above 70 points per game in MAAC contests, averaging 73.4 points, the third most on the leaderboard, while owning the fourth best scoring margin (1.7) and connecting on the second-most three-point field goals per game, hitting 8.9 triples through seven league games. Additionally, the team’s 103 points scored over Manhattan University on January 3, are the most points in a MAAC game this season and the most points for the program in a quarter century dating back to December of 2000. Siena will play in one home game and one road game ahead of the ESPNU matchup, welcoming Mount St. Mary’s University (January 23), while visiting Iona University (January 25).
 
The MAAC Wildcard Game format allows ESPN to pick any game scheduled for that specific date to air on ESPNU and allows the MAAC and ESPN the flexibility to showcase the best matchups as the season progresses. Future MAAC wildcard matchups will be announced at later dates.
 
The 2024-25 campaign culminates with the 2025 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships from March 11-15 at Atlantic City's Historic Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall for the sixth consecutive year dating back to 2020. For all information regarding the 2025 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, please visit MAACSports.com/basketball and by following @MAACHoops and #MAACHoops on Twitter.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 44th year of competition during the 2024-25 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist College, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
 
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