MAAC tournament to continue with limited attendance

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has released the following statement with regard to its Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced this evening that beginning Thursday, March 12, 2020, attendance at all MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball, and eSports games will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.

The main priority of the MAAC is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor addressed the situation further Wednesday evening.

“Once the NCAA came out and said that they were going to ban spectators, the remaining conferences really had no choice but to do the same,” he said. “But we feel it’s prudent given the circumstances and the escalating crisis that we take some action to create a heightened awareness and protect folks from any exposure to the extent we can.”

“At this moment in time, not knowing what else is coming in the door tonight, we are not envisioning suspending the tournament. I think we are going to have a serious conversation with the athletic directors in the morning about what we’re going to do with the spring sports.”