COLUMBIA, S.C. – Benedict College head men's basketball Coach Artis Maddox is taking a glass is half full outlook as the Tigers prepare for their season opener against Kentucky State at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

"It's just a blessing just to be able to play and for our guys to be able to compete against teams in the conference," Maddox said.

The season opener will be played in Benedict's Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena. Per SIAC protocols, no fans will be admitted to the game. The game will be live streamed here, with live stats available here.

"We still have a lot we need to improve on. But just to be able to play this Saturday is truly a blessing," Maddox said. "We're thankful for that, but we still have a ton of work to do, and they've been working extremely hard and working to achieve our goal to win the conference and win a national championship."

The Tigers quickly assembled a 14-game schedule over the next four weeks. The schedule will be busy, starting the season with four home games over seven days. Maddox said one of the biggest challenges will be conditioning. The team had a small window of conditioning and practice opportunities in the fall before the semester ended on Oct. 30, and the students returned home for a two-month break.

"We weren't in the best of shape and we're still working to get in shape now. We've just been conditioning as we practice," Maddox said. "We only practiced for two weeks before we play our first game. But we're just thankful for the opportunity to play."

The Tigers return leading scorer and rebounder Tajh Green, who averaged 14 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season. Benedict also returns Tyrese Mapp (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and freshman sensation Malachi McCoy (7.3 ppg on 67.7 percent shooting and 4.7 rpg).

Maddox loaded up the roster with new talent, mostly former junior college players who bring veteran experience. The Tigers got bigger with the addition of 6-foot-9 forward Jerome Bivins, who played last year at Muskegon Community College, where he helped the team go 26-4 last season and were seeded third going into the national junior college tournament before it was cancelled due to Covid-19 last March. Bivins had 15 points and 14 rebounds in the region championship game for the Jayhawks.

Another big man joining the Tigers is 6-9 forward Jordan Rowley, who averaged 13.5 points and 13.8 rebounds per game and was an All-Region selection at Union County College in New Jersey.

Another key addition is 6-foot-5 guard Jakobey Hitchens from Cleveland State Community College, where he was the team's second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game last season. Jayden Lockett is a 6-foot-3 guard from Columbia State Community College who averaged 9.4 points and 3.6 assists. He was named Tournament MVP of the TCCAA Region VII Tournament after scoring 17 points and leading the Chargers to an overtime victory.

"The guys are super excited," Maddox said. "They've been working extremely hard and we're just blessed to have the opportunity to play."

Maddox said it will be different playing at home with no fans or the BC Band of Distinction playing from across the gym.

"It's going to be like practice with nobody in the gym," Maddox said. "Hopefully we can keep that same energy and feed off our own energy and pull off this win Saturday."