SIUE Men's Basketball Announces 2014-15 Schedule

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Following a season which featured seven Ohio Valley Conference wins and its first appearance in the OVC Championship, SIUE men's basketball has announced its schedule for the 2014-15 season.

The slate features 28 regular season games and includes 14 regular season home games and one exhibition contest. Visits to the Vadalabene Center by SIU Carbondale (Dec. 3) and 2014 NCAA tournament team Milwaukee (Dec. 20) highlight the nonconference portion of the home schedule.  Ohio Valley Conference rivals Murray State (Jan. 24), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 24), and Southeast Missouri (Feb. 19) all will play in Edwardsville during the Conference season.

In addition to the basketball schedule, SIUE Athletics also has announced a new season ticket package as part of the "Community Matters" theme. New season ticket holders who are residents of Madison, St. Clair, Jersey, and Macoupin counties will receive better than a 20 percent discount on the cost of tickets. Lower level chairback season tickets start at just $99 per seat.

Fans interested in purchasing season tickets or receiving more information can call the SIUE Athletics ticket office at 855-SIUE TIX or reach the office by email at siuetix@siue.edu.

Following an exhibition game against Greenville Nov. 6, the Cougars open the regular season with back-to-back home games against Harris Stowe (Nov. 14) and IPFW (Nov. 17). SIUE travels to Portland, Ore. for a pair of games against Portland (Nov. 22) and Portland State (Nov. 24) just ahead of the Thanksgiving break. Following the game against SIU Carbondale, the Cougars return to the road for three consecutive games against Central Michigan (Dec. 6), Saint Louis (Dec. 13), and Campbell (Dec. 17).

"Our nonconference schedule will benefit us. We're playing a variety of teams," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "We want our guys to get a feel for different styles of play. It seems like we're playing all over the place. Part of the reason for that is to give our guys the chance to play in front of their families."

Five straight home dates, including the start of OVC play, follow for the Cougars.

Games against Milwaukee, Chicago State (Dec. 22), and Robert Morris-Springfield (Dec. 28) close out the calendar year for SIUE. The Cougars ring in 2015 with contests versus Jacksonville State (Jan. 1) and Tennessee Tech (Dec. 3) at home.

Other OVC home games include Tennessee State (Jan. 10), Austin Peay (Jan. 22), and UT Martin (Feb. 21).

SIUE will travel for league games at Belmont (Jan. 7), Morehead State (Jan. 15), Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 17), Southeast Missouri (Jan. 29), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 31), UT Martin (Feb. 7), Murray State (Feb. 12), and Austin Peay (Feb. 26).

"Our conference is very good," Forrester said. "You have 12 great teams and some extremely talented basketball players. The OVC deserves to be recognized."

The OVC Tournament will begin Wed., March 4, in Nashville, Tenn.