Three games against teams which finished last season among the nation’s top-30 in RPI highlight the Valparaiso men’s basketball schedule for the 2012-2013 season, released in its entirety Friday afternoon.  The Crusaders return their entire starting lineup and seven players in all from last year’s squad, which captured the Horizon League regular season championship.  In addition, season tickets are on sale now for Valpo’s 18-game home slate at the ARC, with discounted season tickets available for faculty, staff and recent alumni.

The season opens up with a pair of home exhibition games on Saturday, Oct. 27 (St. Joseph’s [Ind.]) and Saturday, Nov. 3 (Robert Morris [Ill.]) before the regular season opener takes place on Friday, Nov. 9 as the Crusaders host Georgia Southern.  Valpo remains at the ARC the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7 a.m. to take on Northern Illinois as previously announced as part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

As announced earlier this month exclusively on the program’s official Twitter feed (@valpobasketball), the Crusaders will take part in the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic this year.  As part of the event, Valpo will play at Nebraska on Thursday, Nov. 15 and at Kent State on Sunday, Nov. 18 before hosting the championship round at the ARC on Nov. 23-24.  The Crusaders will take on Chicago State the first night, preceded by a game between Nebraska-Omaha and Bethune-Cookman.  The winners and losers of the respective games will face off the next night.

The first of the Crusaders’ three games against top-30 RPI squads from last year comes on Sunday, Dec. 2 as Valpo plays at Saint Louis, which won 25 games and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago.  The Crusaders return to the ARC to host IPFW on Wednesday, Dec. 5 before traveling to take on New Mexico, a 27-game winner and Mountain West tournament champions last year, on Saturday, Dec. 8.

Valpo’s three-game road trip continues Saturday, Dec. 15 at Missouri State before concluding two days later at Oakland.  The Crusaders then return home for a pair of games prior to Christmas, hosting IUPUI on Thursday, Dec. 20 and Purdue Calumet on Saturday, Dec. 22.  The pre-league schedule concludes at Murray State, Ohio Valley champions and 28-game winners a season ago, on Saturday, Dec. 29.

Season tickets for the 18-game slate at the Athletics-Recreation Center are on sale now.  Prices range from $174 to $599 for the general public and from $130.50 to $599 for faculty, staff and recent alumni.  Contact the ticket office at 219.464.5233 or fill out the attached PDFs and return to the ticket office – seat assignments begin on Wednesday, Sept. 12.