BUFFALO, NY – The Medaille College Men's Basketball program has released their 2016-17 regular season schedule this afternoon, and there are plenty of dates to mark on the calendar over the next five months.
The 2016-17 Mavericks schedule is highlighted by the return of the WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery Tournament, as well as trips to Hofstra University and Baldwin Wallace University for the Baldwin Wallace Invitational.
The Men's Basketball season kicks off on Tuesday, November 15 when the Mavericks travel to take on the Knights of SUNY Geneseo in Geneseo. This will be the ninth year in a row that the Mavericks and Knights will face off, with SUNY Geneseo having taken six of the last eight meetings. Coincidentally the last Maverick win in the series came five years to the day of the season opener, when Medaille took down the Knights (76-56) on November 15, 2011.
"We have had a history of tight games with Geneseo State," explained Head Coach Mike Blaine.
"They are always well coached and return their top four scorers from a year ago, so we will have a real test right off the bat."
Just three days later Medaille makes their home debut, hosting the WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery Tournament on November 18 and 19. The Mavs kick things off against the Pioneers of Utica College at 4:30pm on November 18 looking to avenge last seasons (76-73) loss at the hands of the Pioneers.
"We had another close game on the road at Utica last year," said Coach Blaine about their WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery Tournament opening round opponent. "They have a new coach and some strong young players who are hungry to expand their games this season."
The second game of the afternoon will pit Gophers of Goucher College against the Bearcats of Baruch College.
The Gophers, members of the Landmark Conference, hail from Towson, Maryland and come into 2016-17 after posting a record of (10-15) a season ago. The Bearcats come from the CUNYAC based out of New York City, looking to improve on a (17-14) record from last season.
The losers of game one and two will square off on Saturday, November 19 at 1:00pm in the consolation game, while the winners from day one will advance to the title game scheduled for 3:00pm. Last season the Mavericks defeated St. Lawrence (77-71) in the first round before falling to Baldwin Wallace (89-79) in the championship game.
The excitement from the WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery Tournament only continues, as over the Thanksgiving Day weekend the Mavs make an exciting trip to Hempstead, New York to take on the Pride of Hofstra University in the first round of the Gulf Coast Classic.
The Pride had a very good season in 2015-16, going (24-10) overall with impressive wins over foes like Canisius, Florida State and St. Bonaventure. The Pride advanced all the way to the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Championship game where they lost a heartbreaker to UNC-Wilmington (80-73) in overtime.
The Pride was selected to the NIT following their regular season success, earning a number five seed in the Monmoth/Florida Bracket.
"Hofstra looks to continue upon their great success the past few seasons. Coach Mihalich has done an incredible job turning their program in the right direction in just a few short seasons," explained Coach Blaine. "His success at Niagara University is well documented. The Hofstra players are hungry to build on last year's CAA Regular Season championship and an appearance in the NIT. This is a unique opportunity that will be a tremendous experience for our players and program."
Medaille returns to the friendly confines of the Sullivan Center on Wednesday, November 30 when the Mavericks host the Blue Devils of Fredonia at 7:00pm. 2016-17 will mark the third straight season that these two programs will meet, with Medaille winning each of the last two by a combined (31) points. Last seasons (95-74) victory saw Medaille erase a one-point halftime deficit by dropping (54) in the second half en route to one of Medaille's highest scoring games of the season.
Conference play commences on Saturday, December 3 when the Mavs travel to Pennsylvania to take on the defending AMCC Tournament Champion Bobcats of Pitt-Greensburg. The Bobcats swept the season series from the Mavericks last year, the first time that has happened since the 2007-08. The (0-3) record against the Bobcats included the (80-66) loss in the first round of the AMCC Tournament that ended Medaille's season.
"The AMCC will continue to be a long and grueling test throughout the season," said Coach Blaine about what he expects from his conference rivals this year. "With 9 of the 15 All-AMCC players from last season graduating, it will be interesting to see which players step up to the challenge. I believe the conference race is as wide open as it has been since I've been at Medaille."
Medaille starts their AMCC home schedule on Wednesday, December 7 when they host the reigning AMCC Regular Season Champion Hilbert Hawks. The Mavericks and Hawks split the season series in 2015-16, with each team winning on the others home court. Medaille's win came on January 21, getting (27) points from Johnathan Belton and a double-double from Mike Hollenbeck for an (84-77) victory.
Saturday, December 10 finds the Mavericks hosting the Lions of Penn State-Altoona in their final home game before the Christmas Break. Medaille went (1-1) against Penn State-Altoona last year, defending their home court (84-81) while falling in Pennsylvania (86-72).
After a week of rest Medaille heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Redhawks of La Roche College in another AMCC showdown. The Redhawks took both games from the Mavericks a year ago, helping improve their conference record from (1-17) in 2014-15 to (12-6) in 2015-16.
Following their matchup with La Roche Medaille takes a (12) day break for the Holiday season before getting back to action on December 29 for the first round of the Baldwin Wallace Invitational. The Mavericks will start things off with a game against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Engineers. The Engineers hail from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, and racked up a (17-11) overall record in 2015-16.
The winner of that game will face off against the winner of the Baldwin Wallace/Adrian matchup that will take place just prior.
"I believe we have an extremely challenging non-conference schedule," explained Coach Blaine. "We have a number of road games against strong opponents. To be a successful team you must find ways to win on the road, so we will have opportunities to test ourselves with our non-conference opponents."
AMCC play resumes on Wednesday, January 4 when the Mavs travel down Interstate 90 to take on the Lions pf Penn State-Behrend. The Mavericks snapped the Lions (15) game win streak last season, beating Penn State-Behrend (71-52) in front of a packed crowd in the Sullivan Center. At the time the Lions came into Medaille ranked number (21) in the country having lost just one game all season. Following the loss to the Mavs Penn State went (1-2) to finish the regular season, falling to Pitt-Greensburg in the AMCC Semifinals.
Medaille comes home for back-to-back home games on January 7 and 11 against Mount Aloysius and Pitt-Bradford respectively. The Mavs went (2-2) against the Mounties and Panthers last season, with both wins coming in front of the home crowd at the Sully.
Medaille wraps up their first go-around in AMCC play with consecutive away games against Franciscan University and D'Youville College on January 14 and 18. The Mavericks swept both the Barons and Spartans last season, with an average margin of victory of (18.25) per contest.
Medaille cycles back through the conference starting on January 21, this time with a home matchup against Pitt-Greensburg.
The second half of the conference slate is highlighted with four of the final six regular season games being played at home in the Kevin I. Sullivan Center. Penn State-Behrend and La Roche College come to town on February 1 and 4; while D'Youville and Franciscan make their way to campus on February 15 and 18.
"Having a chance to close out the season with a good number of home games this year is fortunate. The travel in the AMCC plays a large part in conference play, so a chance for our players to sleep in their own beds and be well rested the day of a game is always helpful," said Coach Blaine about having four of the last six regular season games at the Sullivan Center.
"However, it is vitally important to get off to a good start in the early portion of the AMCC schedule so that we do not have to rely on home games to find success. Our hope is that the early season non-conference tests, especially on the road, will prepare us to get off to a strong start in our AMCC road contests. If we've found success on the road, we can then hope to use the Sullivan Center as a great home court advantage coming down the stretch."
The road to reclaiming the AMCC title begins on Tuesday, November 15 when the Mavericks take on the Knights of SUNY Geneseo in Geneseo at 7:00pm.
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