Grizzlies to play home-friendly 2010-11 men's basketball schedule

ASC to play Division II era school-record 14 home games

ALAMOSA, Colo.— Thanks in part to the new 22-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference scheduling format, Adams State College basketball fans will have plentiful chances to see new head coach Louis Wilson’s Grizzly team in action this season as the Grizzlies will play an NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present) school-record 14 home games during the 2010-11 season.

The new scheduling format has done away with divisions for the first time since the RMAC expanded to 14 teams in 1996-97 and will see all of the RMAC squads fighting for eight spots in the RMAC Shootout, slated to begin with quarterfinal round action on Mar. 1 at the home sites of the top four teams.  The Grizzlies will play each of the 13 opponents once and nine of them again at the end of the regular season schedule.

Although Grizzlies will have two home games in November, two in December, six in January and four in February, they will begin on the road facing Division I opponents Utah and Boise State in exhibition games on Nov. 5 and 9, respectively.  They then begin the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 16 in Espanola, N.M., taking on NAIA Northern New Mexico, one of four non-NCAA Division II opponents that fills out the Grizzlies’ slate.

The Grizzlies will then come home for the first time in 2010-11 to host the Adams State Bankers Classic, and will take on Tennessee Temple and Oakwood (Ala.) on Nov. 19 and 20, respectively.  New Mexico Highlands rounds out the 4-team, classic-style tournament field will face the same teams in reverse order.

The Grizzlies, who are hosting an early-season tournament for the fourth straight season, then begin the RMAC slate at Colorado State-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs on Dec. 3 and 4, respectively, facing teams coached by former ASC players Patrick Eberhart and Russ Caton, respectively.  The Grizzlies will then face Fort Lewis on the road on Dec. 11 before returning home to take on rivals Western State and Mesa State in pre-Holiday break clashes on Dec. 19 and 20.

The Grizzlies will start 2011 with their longest trip of the year playing at Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State on Jan. 2 and 3 but will play six of their other eight January games at home, including a Jan. 21 tilt against defending RMAC Shootout Champion Metro State and a Jan. 22 encounter with Regis, coached by ASC Athletic Hall of Famer Lonnie Porter.

The Grizzlies also begin February on the road at New Mexico Highlands (Feb. 4) and Western New Mexico (Feb. 5) but will play their next four games at home.  They then conclude the regular season at Mesa State (Feb. 25) and Western State (Feb. 26) in a final push for qualifying and seeding for the RMAC Shootout, which will also include semifinal and championship rounds at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo on Mar. 4 and 5.

The Grizzlies will play 26 regular season games, including seven against teams that made last year’s NCAA Division II Tournament field.

Related Item: Complete 2010-11 Schedule