Jersey City – On Tuesday, November 17, 2009, the Saint Peter’s College men’s basketball team will face Monmouth University in a game that will be televised live on ESPN at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Taking place on the College’s Jersey City campus at the Yanitelli Recreational Life Center (RLC), the early morning face-off for the Saint Peter’s Peacocks and Monmouth Hawks is part of ESPN’s second annual College Hoops Tip-off Marathon, which airs 24 hours of live college basketball.
“Saint Peter’s College is extremely honored to be a part of ESPN’s programming and to be chosen to play in this historic game,” stated Director of Athletics Patrick Elliott. “Playing this game in this time slot gives us the unique opportunity to bring the Saint Peter’s College community together, to tip-off the basketball season and showcase the tradition of the College and our men’s basketball program on a global level.”
Saint Peter’s College and Monmouth University are the only schools in New Jersey that will participate in ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-off Marathon. Additionally, Saint Peter’s and Georgetown University are the only two Jesuit, Catholic institutes of higher education playing in the monumental line-up. The Peacocks will also join Niagara University and Siena College as one of three MAAC division schools selected to play in the marathon.
“We are excited to be playing on ESPN in front of a national audience against Monmouth as part of its College Hoops Tip-off Marathon,” said John Dunne, head coach of Saint Peter’s men’s basketball team. “Playing this game is very big for our program, as it gives Saint Peter’s a chance to play in front of a worldwide audience, and gives our team a big challenge early in the season.”
This is the first year that ESPN will broadcast a college basketball game in a 6:00 a.m. time slot. Although Saint Peter’s games have aired on ESPN2 and ESPNU, this will also be the first ever college basketball game taking place at the College’s RLC to be televised on ESPN. Overall, there will be 19 games from 20 athletic conferences televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and aired on ESPN360.com over the 24-hour time period.
Tickets for the 2009-2010 Saint Peter’s College basketball season, including tickets for the historic November 17 game will go on sale in upcoming weeks. Check out www.spc.edu/athletics or call 201-761-7327 for more ticket information.
ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities. ESPN surpassed 90 million households on June 1, 2005; currently in more than 98 mm. Programming hours include more than 5,100 live and/or original hours of sports programming presented annually in more than 65 sports.
# # end # #
Saint Peter’s College is the Jesuit College of New Jersey. Founded in 1872, Saint Peter’s has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located in Jersey City with a branch campus in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with courses at various corporate sites at the Jersey City waterfront and in South Amboy, NJ.