July 17, 2003

Panthers Men's Basketball European Tour page

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has set its schedule of games for its upcoming European tour. The tour is set to take the Panthers to Belgium, Germany and France from August 18-29.

UWM's first game will be August 20 against Saeco Huy, one of the top Division 2 teams in Belgium. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Milwaukee).

The Panthers' second contest will come the next day against the Leuven Basketball Club of Belgium. Leuven, a suburb of Brussels, has been a member of Belgium's Division 1 league for the last 15 years. The game also tips off at 8 p.m. local time.

UWM will then move on to Germany for a single game, playing the Rheinenergy Cologne Basketball Club on August 23. Expected to be the stiffest test for the Panthers on the trip, Rheinenergy finished fifth in the German First Division last year and advanced to the Round of 16 in the ULEB Cup, a tournament involving many of the top professional clubs in Europe. The two teams meet at 8 p.m. local time.

The Panthers will conclude their trip with two games in France. On August 26 UWM will face Levallois, one of the top teams in France's National Division. Levallois was a French Cup finalist in 1998 and is expected to improve on its eighth-place showing in the National Division from a year ago. The game with Levallois will begin at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. Milwaukee time).

On August 28, the Panthers will face the Rueil Basketball Club, a member of France's Pro B Division. Rueil finished third in the Pro B League in France last season after finishing fourth the previous season. The contest against Rueil begins at 8 p.m. local time.