KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Sept. 15, 2023) – On Labor Day Weekend earlier this month, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team traveled "North of the Border" for a foreign trip to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the first foreign trip for the program since Kings Point visited Ireland during Winter Break in the mid-1990's.
 
USMMA took advantage of the NCAA rule that allows teams to make an international trip once every four years, and while in Canada the Mariners competed in three exhibitions against collegiate teams in the Greater Montreal area over three days.
 
A photo gallery of the trip can be viewed at this link.
 
"Our trip to Montreal allowed our team to get a great early start to our season," said seventh-year head coach Rob Pryor. "We were able to play games, spend time together and enjoy the beautiful city of Montreal! We got better as a team, represented Kings Point well and created memories none of us will ever forget."
 
The three contests were against Champlain Saint-Lambert, the only English-speaking school on the trip, Montmorency College and Jean-De-Brebeuf. Although all three games were unofficial and counted only as scrimmages, the Mariners came out on top in each instance, including a nail-biting, two-point victory in the finale on Labor Day against Brebeuf.
 
"The Canada trip provided the team with a good start to the season," said senior captain Bryce Bristow (Plano, Texas). "It felt good to play against other teams after a very competitive week of practices. In Canada we were able to grow together as a team on and off the court."
 
It was quite the experience for the Mariners, who not only got to immerse themselves in a new culture, visiting historic sites such as Mount Royal Park, Old Montreal and Olympic Stadium, but also a different style of basketball that is played in the Great White North.
 
"Our guys showed tremendous upside in Canada," said junior captain Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.). "Unfortunately, my year and a half of French classes in middle school did not give me the upper hand on the opponents that I had hoped, as they spoke French fluently during the games. But being able to go 3-0 despite playing with different rules, a different ball and a different court, gave us a ton of confidence going into the regular season. Our rookies were huge for us over the weekend and the team chemistry is at an all-time high going into this new campaign."
 
The USMMA men's basketball program has experienced great success in recent years, as the Mariners are coming off back-to-back seasons in which they qualified for the Skyline Conference Tournament, a feat that was last accomplished after the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons in the Landmark Conference. The team also earned a berth in the ECAC DIII Championships in the 2021-22 season, the first postseason tournament invite for the Mariners since 2008-09.
 
The full 2023-24 Merchant Marine men's basketball schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
 
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