The Rider men’s basketball team is tentatively scheduled to open the 2008-09 season Nov. 14 at the Palestra  against Saint Joseph’s and play at Lehigh (Nov. 20) and Lafayette (Nov. 23) before its home opener Nov. 29 against Cal State Northridge. 

The Broncs, regular season co-champions last year in the MAAC, will play additional non-conference home games against Rutgers (Dec. 3 at the Sovereign Bank Arena), Monmouth (Dec. 10), New Jersey Tech (Dec. 20), Drexel (Dec. 27) and an opponent to be determined in an ESPN Bracket Buster game on Feb. 21.

Games at LaSalle (Dec. 17) and Binghamton (Dec. 23) round out the road portion of the non-conference schedule.

 Rider, which returns four starters but lost MAAC Player of the Year Jason Thompson to the NBA, went 5-1 last year against teams on this year’s slate, with wins over Cal State Northridge, Rutgers, Monmouth, NJIT and Binghamton and a loss to Drexel.