Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team will make its first appearance in the postseason MasterCard National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Tuesday, March 18, 2008, when it travels to Syracuse (19-13) for an 8:00 p.m. game that will be broadcast live on ESPNU. The Colonials enter the tournament as one of four No. 8 seeds, while the Orange are a No. 1 seed.
Robert Morris, the 2008 Northeast Conference regular-season champion, owns an overall record of 26-7 and is making its first postseason appearance since 1992 and sixth overall. Each of its previous five appearances in the postseason were in the NCAA Tournament. The Colonials are under the guidance of first-year head coach Mike Rice, who was named the 2008 NEC Jim Phelan Coach of the Year.
"Playing in the NIT Tournament is exciting for our program, and anytime you play a nationally-recognized program such as Syracuse is a positive," Rice said. "They bring some tough match ups for a smaller, four-guard lineup such as ourselves, but we'll get ready to go in there and compete at a high level and see what happens."
RMU, which has established a school record for wins this season, is led by the 2008 NEC Player of the Year in senior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown), who averages 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.
Lee is the only player in school history to compile totals of at least 400 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in the same season, with his 210 assists this year a new single-season school record. Lee also enters Tuesday's game against Syracuse with 748 career rebounds, just four caroms shy of establishing a new record in the category.
The Syracuse bracket also includes No. 2 Massachusetts (21-10) vs. No. 7 Stephen F. Austin (26-6), No. 3 Florida State (19-14) vs. No. 6 Akron (23-9) and No. 4 Minnesota (20-12) vs. No. 5 Maryland (18-14). The other No. 1 seeds in the NIT include Ohio State (19-13), Virginia Tech (19-12) and Arizona State (19-12).
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased online at www.suathletics.com.
