Sept. 24, 2008

­• Patriot League Release | Navy MBB Schedule

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- The Patriot League announced Wednesday that six regular-season men's basketball games will be aired by ESPNU and the Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship will be featured on ESPN2 on March 13. Navy will be featured twice during the six games, joining American, Bucknell and Holy Cross as Patriot League teams that will appear twice on the network. All eight teams will appear on the network at least once.

The two appearances on ESPNU brings Navy's total to four, with more games possibly added at a later date. Last year, Navy had eight games televised.

"We are pleased to once again feature Patriot League regular-season and Championship basketball contests on the ESPN networks," Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said. "We are excited to have appearances for all eight of our men's basketball teams and multiple games featuring each of our last three Patriot League champions."

Navy will make two appearances on the network, beginning with the Patriot League opener on Jan. 10, as the Mids will host Bucknell at 5:00 pm. The two teams met three times last year with the combined margin of victory being 15 points, included the epic Patriot League Tournament game won by Bucknell in triple-overtime, 87-86.

Two weeks later on ESPNU, Navy will head to West Point in search of a victory over Army, in a Sunday, Jan. 25, tip-off at high noon. Army has won the first meeting of the season five straight times, but Navy has answered in the second meeting between the squads each time, winning six straight Star Games.

The Mids will also appear on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) against Virginia Tech as part of the BB&T Classic on Dec. 7, at 5:00 pm, to be played at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and against Army on CBS on Feb. 21, for the annual Star Game, played at Alumni Hall in Annapolis at 1:00 pm.

The Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship game will be televised by ESPN on March 13, 2009, from the site of the highest remaining seed at 4:45 p.m.

Patriot League basketball teams open non-League action on Nov. 14, with the first League game set for Jan. 10.

The Patriot League continually demonstrates that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing its high standards. The Patriot League's athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.

# GO NAVY #