Men's Basketball Season Officially Underway
10/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 16, 2004
Moraga, CA - The 2004-05 Saint Mary's men's basketball season officially got underway on Saturday, October 16 when the Gaels took for floor for their first practice. Fourth-year head coach Randy Bennett led SMC to the court with a three-hour practice that began at 12:30 p.m. in SMC's McKeon Pavilion.
The Gaels will have 26 days to prepare for its first game of the season, a meeting with 2004 Post-season NIT participant, the University of Belmont Bruins. The Gaels will take will battle the Bruins in first-round action of the 2004 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at Haas Pavilion, in Berkeley, CA, on November 11 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
This season the Gaels play a balanced schedule that includes 16 homes games and 13 games on the road. Saint Mary's opens its home slate against San Francisco State on November 21 at 7:00 p.m. Other key games of the preseason schedule include road match-ups at UNLV, Rutgers, Hawaii and San Diego State. Included in the home slate is the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic, and games against BYU, Air Force, Delaware and Hampton.
This season the Gaels will be experienced as they return five players that saw significant time in a starting role a year ago. Highlighting the returning players are senior guards Paul Marigney and E.J. Rowland, and junior forward Daniel Kickert. Marigney led SMC is scoring last season with 16.0 points per game, and after leading the WCC in scoring during conference games (21.0 ppg), he was selected as a First Team All-WCC honoree. Kickert joined Marigney on the all-conference team after scoring 14.9 points per contest.
Daniel Kickert returns for his third season with the Gaels and has started all 61 games the past two years. Kickert followed an outstanding freshman campaign (12.1 ppg) by averaging 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, both were second on the team.
Rowland was named to the WCC All-Tournament team after leading the Gaels to the championship game against Gonzaga. Rowland was third on the squad in scoring at 13.3 points per game and he led the team with 4.5 assists per contest.
For the second straight year you can catch all the Saint Mary's men's basketball action on the radio at KDIA 1640 AM with Mike Bouve calling that game action. You can also follow the Gaels on the official website for SMC Athletics at www.SMCGaels.com. You can hear all the games on the website as well as follow through interactive live stats programs.
Season tickets are also on sale through the SMC ticket office or online. If your interested in a complete season ticket package, or even selected game, call the ticket office at 925-631-4392. The ticket office is open from Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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