The Canisius College athletic department has announced the men's basketball non-conference schedule for the 2010-11 season. The current 29 game slate features five home non-league dates and the upcoming year marks just the third time in school history where the Golden Griffins will play host to all three of their local rivals, starting Friday, Nov. 12, when the Blue and Gold takes on St. Bonaventure in the season opener.

"Obviously we are excited about this year's non-league schedule and hosting all of our local rivals on campus will be great for our students, our alumni and our local fan base," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "When you put it all together, I truly believe this will give us the chance to become a better basketball team as we move forward to conference play."

The season-opener against the Bonnies will be the backend of a basketball doubleheader, with the Canisius women's team kicking off the hoops year with a non-league game against Kent State in the Koessler Athletic Center at 6 p.m., on the night of Nov. 12. Tickets are currently on sale for the doubleheader by calling the Ticket Office at 716-888-2885 or by clicking this link. After hosting St. Bonaventure, Canisius will travel to play a matinee game at Syracuse Nov. 14, before returning home to host Eastern Michigan Nov. 20 and then cross-town rival Buffalo Nov. 23. After the Thanksgiving holiday, the Griffs will wrap up the first month of the season at Binghamton Nov. 30.

After taking to the road to start MAAC action in early December, the Griffs will return to the KAC Dec. 10, to play host to St. Francis (NY) in a return game from last season. Prior to the Christmas holiday, the program will make its first trip to a Southland Conference opponent when the Blue and Gold faces off against Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., Dec. 19. Canisius is also scheduled to play at Southland Conference member Lamar Dec. 22 in Beaumont, Texas before returning to Buffalo to host Northwestern State Dec. 29. Canisius will close out non-conference play Feb. 19, 2011 when the team takes part in the ESPN BracketBuster series.

The Griffs' complete 2010-11 schedule will be announced later this month when the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveils the full league slate. The program is still looking to secure an additional non-conference game for the 2010-11 season as well.

Schedule Notes: The game against St. Bonaventure will be the 159th in the all-time series and it marks the just fourth time the Bonnies have played in the Koessler Athletic Center... This year's game against the Orange in Syracuse's Carrier Dome will be the 10th in Canisius' history... Last season, Canisius snapped its five-game losing streak to Buffalo in the series with a 73-71 victory in Alumni Arena... Eastern Michigan will be playing in the KAC for the first time, while the game against Binghamton marks the first in program history... The home date with St. Francis (NY) will be the Terriers' first contest in Buffalo since Dec. 17, 1983, when the two schools played in The Aud... With the two games against Southland Conference members Northwestern State and Lamar, Canisius will have played at least one game against a school in all 32 Division I conferences... The last non-conference opponent Canisius played an in-season home-and-home series against was Buffalo in 2000-01, where the Blue and Gold won both games en route to the school's last 20-win campaign.