DeLand, Fla. - Heading into his first season at the helm of Stetson Men's Basketball, Head Coach Casey Alexander unveiled on Wednesday the 2011-12 schedule for the Hatters. The challenging 29-game slate features 10 games against teams that advanced to the postseason a year ago, including a Nov. 28 date at the Amway Center in Orlando to take on NCAA quarterfinalist Florida in the Florida Citrus Sports Shootout.
"We're excited about the local flavor of this year's schedule and the opportunity our fans will have to see the Hatters at home and on the road," Coach Alexander said of his slate. "Non-conference road games at UCF, Florida State and Florida serve as highlights for the 18 games we'll play in the Sunshine State."
Alexander continued, "we'll have high expectations for success on the floor, but wins and losses will not be the only measures of success this season. Our primary objective is to establish what we want this program to look like and that is an everyday initiative. The sooner we can establish that, the quicker the wins will come."
Following an exhibition contest against Flagler (Nov. 3) at the Edmunds Center, the Hatters open the regular season at home Friday, Nov. 11 vs. Volusia County rival and defending MEAC regular season champion Bethune-Cookman. A two-game trip to the state capital follows for matchups at Florida A&M (Nov. 14) and NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier Florida State (Nov. 16) before a return to the Edmunds Center to take on Saint Leo (Nov. 19). Two days later the Hatters will be in Charleston, S.C. for the first of two non-conference matchups with Charleston Southern.
The Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) will see Stetson match up with the two-time national champion Gators on the home court of the NBA's Orlando Magic to close out the month of November. On December 1 the 18-game Atlantic Sun Conference schedule gets rolling for the Hatters as perennial title contender ETSU comes to DeLand; a trip to historic Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. to take on Big Ten foe Indiana follows three days later. ETSU, along with Jacksonville, were the two A-Sun schools to play in the CollegeInsider.Com Tournament (CIT) in March 2011.
Following a 13-day break for final exams, A-Sun rival USC Upstate arrives on December 17 with Charleston Southern returning the earlier matchup on December 21. After the holiday break, Stetson wraps up 2011 with two games in Orlando at the UCF Holiday Invitational, facing the host CBI semifinalist Knights (Dec. 29) and either James Madison or Rhode Island the following day. JMU and URI were both CBI qualifiers in 2010-11 as well.
When the calendar turns over to January 2012, A-Sun action truly heats up as 18 of Stetson's last 19 games will be played within the league, starting with the trip to Kennesaw State (Jan. 2) and Mercer (Jan. 4). Next up is a home weekend against Jacksonville (Jan. 7) and North Florida (Jan. 9) before the annual Music City trip to Nashville to face Belmont (Jan. 14) and Lipscomb (Jan. 16). The matchup at Belmont will see Coach Alexander, formerly Belmont's associate head coach, return to the Curb Event Center to take on mentor Rick Byrd and the defending A-Sun regular season and tournament champion Bruins.
After a home game with FGCU (Jan. 20) and the non-conference finale at Savannah State (Jan. 23), the Hatters entertain Mercer (Jan. 28) and Kennesaw State (Jan. 30) to close out the month of January. The home stretch of the regular season will be a test for Stetson with five of the seven slated games on the road. The Hatters visit North Florida (Feb. 4), Jacksonville (Feb. 6), FGCU (Feb. 21), ETSU (Feb. 23) and USC Upstate (Feb. 25) while hosting Lipscomb (Feb. 11) and Belmont (Feb. 13).
The General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference Championships return to Macon, Ga. and Mercer's University Center Feb. 29-March 3. Stetson will be attempting to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 2008-09 after coming up just short the past two seasons.
For single-game and season ticket packages, contact the Stetson Athletics Ticket Office at (386) 822-8110.
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