LOUDONVILLE, NY – Following the Nov. 6 decision reached by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Council of Presidents to revise the previously announced men's and women's basketball league schedules to reflect evolving COVID-19 testing, travel, and venue standards, the MAAC released amended 2020-21 conference schedules Monday morning.
 
As previously outlined in the MAAC's Nov. 6 announcement, the revised league schedule features a 20-game double round robin format, with conference action now set to tip off on Friday, Dec. 11. MAAC games will now be contested weekly on Fridays and Saturdays, with teams playing the same opponent at the same venue on both days. Games will not be played on Christmas Weekend, while the penultimate week of the regular season (Feb. 22-28) will continue to be reserved as a COVID-19 "Makeup Week" should any previously affected league contests need to be rescheduled. Additionally, due to the unequal number of conference schools, each team will also have one bye week.
 
Each team will now play a total of 10 MAAC "series," featuring five conference home weekends and five conference away weekends. Each school's men's and women's basketball teams will now have schedules mirroring each other, as both teams will play the same opponent each weekend, albeit one team will be home while the other will be on the road. Each team will also now make just one trip to Western New York this season to face either Canisius or Niagara, while hosting the other at home.
 
The Saints will open their conference schedule against the Fairfield Stags on Dec. 11-12 before hitting the road to Buffalo to face Canisius the following weekend before hitting the holiday break.
 
Highlights in the slate are the Saints matchup with last year's league champion, the Rider Broncs after their bye week on January 15-16 at home in the Alumni Recreation Center. The Green and Gold will also face rival Marist at home in the ARC to end the season on Mar. 5-6 before heading off to Atlantic City for the MAAC Championships from Mar. 9-13. Siena will also face Niagara and Iona at home. Along with Canisius, the Saints will face Monmouth, Saint Peter's, Manhattan, and Quinnipiac on the road.
 
The Saints are coming off an 11-20 season with an 8-12 mark in the MAAC. The Green and Gold return four of their five starters from last season, roughly 75 percent of their scoring from last season. Senior Rayshel Brown and junior Amari Anthony were named to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team. Junior Tobulayefa Watts returns as the MAAC's top shot blocker, averaging 2.2 blocks per game and setting the second-most blocked shots in a single season in program history with 69.