Inaugural Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic Set For December

Twelve teams converge on the South Point for two days of college hoopsLAS VEGAS, NV-- Four highly ranked men’s junior college teams, four competitive DImen’s teams, and four of the top teams in Division 1 women’s college basketball will makeup the field for the first Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic set for Dec. 19-20, 2009. Theevent, which consists of six games each day, will be played at the South Point EventsCenter on the property of the South Point Casino and Spa in Las Vegas.

Two of the top four teams in the NJCAA preseason poll highlight the junior college men’sfield as #3 Midland College faces #4 Three Rivers Community College in the HolidayHoops opener at 9 a.m. on Saturday (Dec. 19). In the second game of the day, #20 MonroeCollege squares off against longtime power College of Southern Idaho at 11:15 p.m. Thefour teams will advance to a third-place and championship game at 9 and 11:15 a.m. onSunday (Dec. 21).

Two West Coast Conference teams, a Missouri Valley Conference power and a member ofthe Big East Conference makeup the four team D1 men’s field in Las Vegas. The Universityof South Florida of the Big East faces the University of San Francisco of the WCC at 2p.m. before the Missouri Valley’s Southern Illinois University squares off with anotherWCC member in the University of San Diego. On Sunday San Diego and South Floridaplay at 2 p.m. while San Francisco and SIU finish off the men’s slate of games at 4:15 p.m.

Four of the top women’s teams in America will finish things off at the Holiday HoopsClassic as four 26+ win teams of a year ago comprise arguably the best four-team field ofany tournament in the country in 2009-10. Arizona State University, which finished the2008-09 campaign ranked 12th, will play a Texas A&M University squad that won 27games a year ago en route to a No. 7 national finish. That game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.on Saturday while Gonzaga University (No. 27 in the final poll) will face Baylor Universitywhich won 29 games last year en route to a No. 6 final ranking. That game is set for8:45 pm. On Sunday Baylor will face Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. while Texas A&M andGonzaga will play in the 8:45 nightcap.

Fans looking to purchase tickets can visit the South Point website at www.southpoint.comor check with their school’s ticket office. Fans can also watch live streaming video of theHoliday Hoops Classic by visiting the tournament page at www.sporttours.net.

2009 Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic Game Schedule

Saturday, December 19th

9:00 am Midland v. Three Rivers11:15 am Monroe v. Southern Idaho2:00 pm USF v. San Francisco4:15 pm Southern Illinois v. San Diego6:30 pm Arizona State v. Texas A&M8:45 pm Gonzaga v. Baylor

Sunday, December 20th

9:00 am JUCO Third Place Game11:15 am JUCO Championship Game2:00 pm San Diego v. USF4:15 pm San Francisco v. Southern Illinois6:30 pm Baylor v. Arizona State8:45 pm Texas A&M v. Gonzaga

• game times local

• home team listed first

• all games at the South Point Events Center