Tonight begins the 11th annual Hampton Inn Classic Men's basketball tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center at UMass Dartmouth. Customarily, this tournament serves as the beginning of the Corsair season, but due to NCAA calendar issues, Head Coach Brian Baptiste elected to play a game ahead of the tournament this season. Nevertheless, the Hampton Inn Classic still serves as a ceremonial beginning of basketball season on campus.
All tournament games will be broadcast live. Tonight's will be handled in an audio-only format by myself. Tomorrow's games will be streamed courtesy of our friends at Dartmouth Community Television. Jim Thompson and Rick Jalbert have the call of Saturday's action. Head over to our Corsair Live multimedia page for links to all of this weekend's broadcasts.
The Corsairs will play the second game tonight against the University of New England Nor'easters. UNE (1-1) has been busy this week, with two games already under its belt, a 71-63 loss at St. Joseph's of Maine on Sunday and an 82-70 victory over a Little East Conference member at home versus Southern Maine on Tuesday. In his third season at the helm, Head Coach Jason Mulligan has the program in great shape, having won the school's first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference title and appearing in the NCAA tournament. The Nor'easters went 24-5 last year, which tied a program record for victories in a season.
In tonight's first game, the Springfield College Pride take on the Wheelock College Wildcats at 5:30 PM. Like UNE, the Pride also have two games played already, which they've split. Head Coach Charlie Brock has scheduled an aggressive early season slate, and the team has fared pretty well against difficult opposition. The Pride lost 62-59 at home against Rhode Island College on Tuesday and rebounded with an impressive 74-63 victory at Salem State on Thursday. Both opponents are coming off outstanding NCAA tournament seasons; RIC won the 2009 Little East regular season crown while Salem State advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
The Wildcats have only played one game so far, a 79-63 victory over the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday night in Boston. Head Coach John Preziosa's squad figures to be tested much more in this matchup against Springfield tonight.
Steve Uno, Patrick Burns, and Brian Micholazyk will officiate the Springfield/Wheelock game, while Gary Pucino, Evan Burroughs, and Joseph Fortes will handle the UNE/UMD nightcap.
While I hate to get ahead of myself, it looks like a UMD/Springfield final could be one of the best matchups in Hampton Inn Classic history. Remember to listen to tonight's games to see if it happens.
Enjoy the tournament, everyone!
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