Merrimack Men's Basketball: Busy Season Beginnings

Read Time:2 Minute, 28 Second

We are still three months away from the start of the men’s college basketball season. Schools are starting to give their fans notice of what their non-conference schedule looks like. For the Merrimack College Warriors, the early season looks busy. Two special events are on the docket for November. One is at the beginning of the month, then one over the holiday week. Getting the program some national exposure is never a bad thing, and Merrimack is hoping to do just that.

The first of the two events takes place at the start of the season. The Field of 68 Marathon is an all-day event set to begin the season on Monday, November 3. Two locations, Rock Hill, South Carolin, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will feature six games. Three at each site. For the Warriors, Sioux Falls will be their location. They will play the final game of the day vs South Dakota State at 9 PM EST. This will be the first meeting between these schools. It will be the second time that Merrimack has faced a team from the Summit League. The last time was back in the 2022-23 season at a tournament hosted by the University of Montana. Merrimack lost a 72-61 decision to the University of St. Thomas. The other two games in Sioux Falls are Murray State vs Omaha and Drake vs Northern Arizona. Tickets for the Sioux Falls games go on sale September 5.

At the end of the month, Merrimack will head to The Palestra in Philadelphia to play in The Cathedral Classic. The dates are November 28-30 and will feature Hofstra, Lasalle, and the University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers will serve as the hosts of this tournament. Three games in three days. Merrimack will meet Penn on the 28th, Hofstra on the 29th, and Lasalle on the 30th. A very good early-season mid-major test for the team. Tickets for the weekend of basketball are on sale. The format is a round-robin schedule.

The Warriors are coming off an 18-win season in their first year in the MAAC, and they will have 10 new players on this year’s roster. Five are freshmen, and the other five are transfers. The transfers range from graduate students to players who are entering their junior years. Forward Todd Brogna is coming over from Stonehill College. He is a junior transfer. Forward Aliou Cisse comes from the University of Bridgeport. Guard Ernest Shelton comes from Gannon University. Forward KC Ugwuakazi is a Massachusetts native who started his college career at East Texas A&M. He is heading to MeCollegek Guard. Andrés Marrero from Lasalle is also on his way to North Andove. Freshmen coming to Merrimack are: Kevair Kennedy from Philly, Dylan Veillette from Connecticut, Quinn Kwasniak from Cleveland, Ohio. Jacob Moore from Virginia, David Munro from Camden, New Jersey, Kennedy, and Kwasniak are guards, while Munro and Veillette are forwards.