President Tom Sullivan joined the excitement at Patrick Gym today, where students lined up for tickets to Saturday's America East men's basketball championship game. The second-seeded Catamounts will face the fourth-seeded Albany Great Danes in the March 16, 11:30 a.m. game to be broadcast on ESPN2.

This is the eighth time in 12 years the Catamounts have advanced to the America East championship game and the ninth time overall. The winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament, which would be the second straight year for the Catamounts and the sixth time in history.

Accompanying the president was his wife, Leslie, and their new dog, Sully. Men's basketball coach John Becker also greeted fans and handed out donuts. See more images from the impromptu Patrick Gym event on Flickr.

A fan fest is planned in advance of the championship game Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. The event will feature food giveaways, distribution of green and gold pom-pons, face painting, games, a craft station for making posters and a performance by the UVM Pep Band. ESPN 101.3 FM will broadcast live from the event.

See additional ticket information on uvmathletics.com.

Fans can watch the televised game on campus and across the country at these "watch here" sites.

PUBLISHED

03-13-2013
Amanda Kenyon Waite