Five games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and an overall slate of 13 regular season games highlight the 2015-16 IPFW men’s basketball home schedule, released on Tuesday afternoon.
"This season we are hosting a number of great games at both the intimate Gates Center on campus as well as the historic Allen County War Memorial Coliseum," said IPFW head coach Jon Coffman. "This will be our most challenging schedule in my tenure at IPFW, which should be incredibly exciting for our fan base. We are also excited to announce a five-game season ticket package in the Coliseum, where we began our Division I basketball tenure in 2001."
Memorial Coliseum is a historic basketball arena that has seen two NBA Finals (1955 and 1956), and an NBA All-Star game (1953). The Coliseum is also host to the lowest-scoring NBA game in league history, a 19-18 Fort Wayne Pistons win over the Minneapolis Lakers – the game that was the catalyst for the NBA to adopt the shot clock.
"Our program is preparing to add to the history and tradition of Fort Wayne’s historic venue," said Coffman. "Playing in the same facility that hosted two NBA Finals, an NBA All-Star game, and all-time greats such as George Mikan, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, Wilt Chamberlain, and Coach Red Auerbach is special. It’s our program’s goal to embrace our city and be ‘Fort Wayne’s Team’ and what better way to show our connection to our city than to add to the tradition of the War Memorial Coliseum."
The home season opens on Friday, November 6 when the team hosts the Otterbein Cardinals at 7 p.m. at the Gates Sports Center for the teams’ sole exhibition contest. A women’s / men’s doubleheader follows 10 days later on November 16 with the Mastodons facing off against the Manchester Spartans at 7:30 p.m. in the Gates Sports Center.
The team’s next five home games will all take place at the Coliseum, starting with the second of three doubleheaders this season, with the Mastodons and SIUE Cougars doing battle at 2:30 p.m. on November 21. Austin Peay and IPFW will play on December 12 in the third and final doubleheader, scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. tip-off at the Coliseum.
The Stetson Hatters make the trek to Fort Wayne from DeLand, Florida, and will take on IPFW at 1 p.m. at the Coliseum on December 19, while Oral Roberts closes out the 2015 calendar year with a 7 p.m. tip-off on December 30.
The 2016 year opens with a January 2 Gates Sports Center contest against Purdue North Central for a 7 p.m. tip-off, while the final Memorial Coliseum game of the season follows four days later on January 6 with a 7 p.m. meeting with the South Dakota Coyotes.
IPFW returns home following a three-game road swing to host North Dakota State (January 21) and IUPUI (January 23) in 7 p.m. tip-offs for each contest. Western Illinois plays in a Sunday matinee on January 31 with the Mastodons hosting the Leathernecks in a 2 p.m. tip-off.
The home season concludes over a week-long span in February, with IPFW hosting Denver on February 13, setting the table for the school’s homecoming weekend which brings South Dakota State to the Gates Center on February 18 and Omaha on February 20.
