ALBANY, NY – Siena Men's Basketball tips off its 85^th season – and milestone 50^th at the Division I level – when the Saints host Bryant on college basketball's Opening Night Monday at 7 p.m. at MVP Arena.
 
Tickets to the 2025-26 Siena Basketball season and home-opener start as low as $15 (service fees apply if purchasing through Ticketmaster) and can be secured by clicking the corresponding link, in-person at the MVP Arena Box Office, or by contacting Ticketmaster by phone at (800) 745-3000. The Siena Fan Relations Management Center is on-hand to handle all ticket-related inquiries, and can be reached by phone at (518) 487-2202 or by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu. For all Siena Basketball ticket-related information, log onto sienasaints.com/tickets.
 
For the third straight season, Siena has the honor of playing at MVP Arena on college basketball's Opening Night. The Saints have won a pair of season-opening thrillers each of the past two seasons on their homecourt by a combined three points, and by nearly identical scores of 72-71 in overtime over Brown last season and 73-71 vs. Holy Cross in 2023-24. Siena is a stellar 63-21 (.750) all-time in home-openers, and won five of their last six.
 
Expectations are high for the Saints entering the 2025-26 season. Siena is amongst others receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Men's Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, and was listed as a "Potential March Cinderella" by ESPN.com. The Saints were projected to finish second according to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll – their highest preseason prognostication in five years – and received three first-place votes.
 
Siena begins its 50^th Division I season against a familiar face in Jamion Christian, who makes his Bryant head coaching debut. The 17^th head coach in Siena Basketball history led the Saints to a 17-16 overall record in his ten-month tenure at the helm in 2018-19. Christian leads a new-look Bulldogs program which won 23 games and captured both the America East Regular Season and Tournament Championships last season, culminating in an NCAA Tournament appearance. Bryant welcomes 13 newcomers including four transfers and a program-record nine true freshmen.
 
Siena and Bryant meet for just the fifth time, all within the past 10 seasons. The Saints have won all three meetings in Rhode Island, while the Bulldogs captured the lone previous meeting in Albany. Siena secured a thrilling 90-88 overtime triumph on Nov. 8 of last season in the Ocean State, overcoming a nine-point deficit with 5:50 remaining in regulation. Justice Shoats matched a collegiate career-high with 31 points and connected on the game-winning free throws with 16.9 seconds left in overtime for the Saints, which led for less than three of 45 minutes.
 
Robert Lee, Kelly O'Donnell, and Joe Lemery have the call of the game on ESPN+, which can be viewed by clicking the corresponding link. The "Voice of the Saints" Emmanuel Berbari and former Saint Andy Grazulis '92 will have the radio call of the game locally in the Capital Region on JAMZ 96.3 FM, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.
 
Follow the Saints on X (@SienaMBB), Facebook (SienaBasketball), and Instagram (sienambb) for all the latest news, updates, and content. Upload pictures of yourself and your friends enjoying the game through the Selfiefinder platform by clicking the corresponding link at the top of the page, or by downloading the Selfiefinder app and searching "Siena." The best selfies from the game will be displayed on the video scoreboard early in the second half.