Rice University Athletics
Men’s Hoops to Host Owl Invitational Featuring Darius Lee Memorial Classic
8/25/2022 11:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON, Texas — The Rice men's basketball team will host the Owl Invitational featuring the Darius Lee Memorial Classic, Nov. 18-21, head coach Scott Pera announced Thursday morning.
"We are excited to be hosting The 2022 Owl Invitational and bringing Georgia Southern and Western Michigan to Houston for the event," said Pera. "We are also thrilled to partner with Houston Baptist University in this unique format. Each team will play three games in a round-robin format. Rice and HBU will play the final game in the Darius Lee Memorial Classic where we will honor the life of HBU's star player, who was tragically lost this summer. We hope the community comes out and supports the event and shows support for the entire HBU community as they honor their student, teammate, player, and friend."
The tournament will feature Rice, Georgia Southern, Houston Baptist, and Western Michigan. The Owls will host Georgia Southern on Nov. 18 while HBU hosts Western Michigan. The following day, Rice will host Western Michigan and HBU will host Georgia Southern. GSU and WMU will then face off at Tudor Fieldhouse on Nov. 20.
The final contest of the event will take place on Nov. 21, with Rice hosting Houston Baptist in the Darius Lee Memorial Classic, named in honor of HBU's Darius Lee who tragically lost his life to gun violence this past summer while home in Harlem, N.Y. Lee was a team leader, an all-conference player for the Huskies and was named the school's male student-athlete of the year for the 2021-22 school year.
"We are excited to be hosting The 2022 Owl Invitational and bringing Georgia Southern and Western Michigan to Houston for the event," said Pera. "We are also thrilled to partner with Houston Baptist University in this unique format. Each team will play three games in a round-robin format. Rice and HBU will play the final game in the Darius Lee Memorial Classic where we will honor the life of HBU's star player, who was tragically lost this summer. We hope the community comes out and supports the event and shows support for the entire HBU community as they honor their student, teammate, player, and friend."
The tournament will feature Rice, Georgia Southern, Houston Baptist, and Western Michigan. The Owls will host Georgia Southern on Nov. 18 while HBU hosts Western Michigan. The following day, Rice will host Western Michigan and HBU will host Georgia Southern. GSU and WMU will then face off at Tudor Fieldhouse on Nov. 20.
The final contest of the event will take place on Nov. 21, with Rice hosting Houston Baptist in the Darius Lee Memorial Classic, named in honor of HBU's Darius Lee who tragically lost his life to gun violence this past summer while home in Harlem, N.Y. Lee was a team leader, an all-conference player for the Huskies and was named the school's male student-athlete of the year for the 2021-22 school year.
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