CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) officially announced the 2018-19 men’s basketball schedule on Wednesday. Canisius will open its 30th season of MAAC play on Thursday, Jan. 3 when the Golden Griffins travel to play Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
For the second-straight year, all 11 MAAC schools will play 18 conference games – nine at home and nine on the road. Also for the second-straight year, Canisius will play Manhattan just one time, with that date coming Feb. 17 at the Koessler Athletic Center, and the Blue and Gold will only see fellow Jesuit school Saint Peter’s once in the upcoming season. That game against the Peacocks will be played Feb. 10 in Jersey City, N.J.
After opening the conference portion of the slate at Marist, Canisius will travel to play at Siena Jan. 5. The Griffs’ first two home conference dates are set for Jan. 11 and Jan. 13 when Rider, the league’s co-defending regular-season champion, and Iona, the defending conference tournament champion, travel to Buffalo. After a weekend at home, Canisius will travel to the state of Connecticut to play at Quinnipiac (Jan. 17) and at Fairfield (Jan. 19). The Griffs will close the first month of the 2019 calendar year with a home date against Monmouth (Jan. 24) before traveling north to square off with “Battle of the Bridge” rival Niagara Jan. 30.
The month of February begins a stretch where the Griffs will play six of its final 10 regular-season games at home, starting Feb. 1, when the squad plays host to Quinnipiac at the Koessler Athletic Center. After hosting Marist (Feb. 4) at home, Canisius will travel to the state of New Jersey for a pair of games Feb. 8 and Feb. 10. On Feb. 8, Canisius will play at Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J., before heading up the Garden State Parkway to meet Saint Peter’s. The following weekend, Canisius hosts Fairfield (Feb. 15) and Manhattan (Feb. 17), before taking to the road for the final two regular-season road games of the campaign.
On Feb. 22, Canisius will play at Monmouth and close out that road swing with a road game at Iona Feb. 24. The Blue and Gold’s final two games of the season will be at home, starting Feb. 27 when the team plays host to Niagara at the Koessler Athletic Center. This year’s meeting on Main Street will be the 185th in the series’ storied history, and it will also mark the 22nd time the two Western New York rivals have played on the hardwood at the Koessler Athletic Center. Canisius will close out the 2018-19 regular season at home on March 1 when Siena comes to town. This year marks the first time Canisius has played a regular-season home game in the month of March since the 2012-13 campaign.
The 2019 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship will take place March 7-11 at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Game times and a full league broadcast schedule for all MAAC regular season games will be announced in the near future.
Canisius officially opens the 115th season in school history on Nov. 14, when the Griffs travel to play at Bucknell. The Griffs are scheduled to play six teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last March, including defending national champion Villanova (Nov. 22) and MAAC champion Iona (Jan. 13 and Feb. 24).
Season tickets for the 2018-19 season are now available. Visit GoGriffs.com or call (716) 888-TIXX for more information. For information on official travel packages to the AdvoCare Invitational, CLICK HERE.
