ESPN Announces February 27 MAAC Wildcard Games
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – ESPN has announced the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball wildcard matchups for Feb. 27. Quinnipiac University will host the Siena Saints at 6 p.m. on ESPNU, and Iona welcomes Manhattan to the Hynes Center at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Bobcats and Saints met earlier this season on Dec. 5, with Siena coming away with an 88-67 win at the Times Union Center in the conference opener for both teams. Quinnipiac nearly matched the hosts point-for-point in the first half, as the visitors entered the locker room down by only two at 40-38. Siena broke the game open with a 25-6 run to start the second stanza, however, en-route to the 21-point victory.
Iona and Manhattan are scheduled to meet for the first time in the 2014-15 campaign on Friday, Feb. 13 in Riverdale, N.Y. The contest will be telecast on ESPNU.
Last year, the Jaspers-Gaels matchup was also selected as the ESPN2 wildcard game, and ended in a three-point overtime victory (80-77) for Manhattan in front of a pack-house at Draddy Gymnasium. The Jaspers ultimately topped Iona in the 2014 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship game by a 71-68 mark after the teams split the regular season series.
A total of 47 games will be nationally televised on the ESPN networks during the 2014-15 campaign, which includes 37 regular season contests and 10 contests at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
This season’s MAAC television schedule features an all-time high of 11 wildcard games. The wildcard format allows ESPN to pick any game on schedule for the selected date to be air on the designated platform (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3). ESPN announces which game it selects for the wildcard telecast 21 days out. The format enables the MAAC and ESPN flexibility to showcase the best possible matchups.
The 2015 season culminates at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York March 5-9. Tickets for the championships are available online at ticketmaster.com.
For the full men’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.