CAMBRIDGE, Mass.? The seedings and pairings for the 2009 America East Men’s Basketball Championship are set. The nine-team tournament takes place at University at Albany’s SEFCU Arena on March 6-8, with the title game to be played on March 14 at the higher remaining seed.
The league championship gets underway on Friday, March 6 as No. 8 Maine faces No. 9 Hartford at 7 p.m. The winner of that first round contest will face top-seeded Binghamton in quarterfinal action at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 7. The Bearcats shared the regular-season title with Vermont and earned the No. 1 seed by sweeping the season series from the Catamounts.
Vermont will kick off Saturday’s quartet of games against host Albany, the No. 7 seed, at 12 noon. The two teams have combined to win five of the last six conference titles.
No. 3 Boston University, winner of a league-best five crowns, takes on No. 6 UMBC, the tournament’s defending champion, at 2:30 p.m. to wrap up the day’s first session. No. 4 New Hampshire faces No. 5 Stony Brook at 8:30 p.m. in the nightcap. All four quarterfinal games will be televisied on Time Warner Cable, which will also provide live coverage of post-game press conferences and analysis in between games.
The semifinals take place on Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Both semifinals will be carried live on Time Warner with the second game also live on Comcast Sportnet. The first semi will be aired tape delay on CSN, while both will also be available on ESPN’s Full Court and streamed online at AmericaEast.com.
The title game will be held on the campus of the higher remaining seed on Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2.
For more information on America East Men’s Basketball, log on to the conference’s official website www.AmericaEast.com.
2009 America East Men's Basketball Championship
at University at Albany’s SEFCU Arena (Albany, N.Y.)
Friday, March 6
Session I - First Round Game
Game 1 - No. 8 Maine vs. No. 9 Hartford 7:05 p.m. AmericaEast.com
Saturday, March 7
Session II - Quarterfinal Games
Game 2 ? No. 2 Vermont vs. No. 7 Albany 12:07 p.m. Time Warner Cable
Game 3 ? No. 3 Boston U. vs. No. 6 UMBC 2:30 p.m.* Time Warner Cable
*time approximate, game will begin 30 minutes following conclusion of prior game
Session III - Quarterfinal Games
Game 4 ? No. 1 Binghamton vs. Winner Game 1 6:07 p.m. Time Warner Cable
Game 5 ? No. 4 New Hampshire vs. No. 5 Stony Brook 8:30 p.m.* Time Warner Cable
*time approximate, game will begin 30 minutes following conclusion of prior game
Sunday, March 8
Session IV - Semifinal Games
Game 6 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 2:04 p.m. Comcast SportsNet (td)/TW Cable
Game 7 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 5:04 p.m. Comcast SportsNet/TW Cable
Saturday, March 14, at home court of higher seeded team
Session V - Championship Game
Game 8 - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 11:02 a.m. ESPN2