Cross-town rivalry kicks off Canada West basketball season

Ali Raza and the Griffins men's basketball team, left, and Mady Chamberlin and the Griffins women's squad will open the 2018-19 season against familiar Edmonton rival Alberta on Oct. 25 and 27 (Chris Piggott photo).
Ali Raza and the Griffins men's basketball team, left, and Mady Chamberlin and the Griffins women's squad will open the 2018-19 season against familiar Edmonton rival Alberta on Oct. 25 and 27 (Chris Piggott photo).
Posted: Jun 21, 2018

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins won't have to wait long to renew their rivalry on the hardcourt against cross-town foe University of Alberta.

In fact, the two rivals will kick off the Canada West basketball season with a Thursday night Oct. 25 doubleheader at the Saville Centre (6 p.m. women, 8 p.m. men, Canada West TV). The rematch will be the home opener for both Griffins teams – Saturday, Oct. 27 (Noon women, 2 p.m. men, David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

The Canada West schedule was officially revealed on Thursday.

See the Griffins men's basketball schedule here

See the Griffins women's basketball schedule here

MacEwan will also host Winnipeg (Nov. 9-10) and UFV (Nov. 16-17) in the first semester before welcoming defending Canada West men's and U SPORTS champion Calgary (Jan. 11-12) and Brandon (Jan. 25-26).

Both teams will travel to Lethbridge (Nov. 2-3), MRU (Nov. 23-24) and will close out the first semester at defending Canada West women's champion Regina (Nov. 30-Dec. 1), UBC-Okanagan (Jan. 18-19) and will close out the regular season at Victoria (Feb. 1-2).

Playoff action will take to the court between Feb. 8 and March 2. The CW best-of-three semis are slated for Feb. 21-24, while the single-game conference championships will be played either March 1 or 2.

Both Griffins hoops teams are aiming to return to the playoffs after missing out last season.

The 2019 U SPORTS Final 8s are set for March 7-10, with Ryerson University welcoming the best women's teams to Toronto, while Dalhousie University gets set to host the top men's squads in Halifax.

Again, this season, you can watch every CW basketball regular season and playoff game on Canada West TV – the official streaming home of Canada West. 2018-19 Canada West TV passes went on sale Thursday.

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