The American University’s men’s basketball team’s opening doubleheader against Loyola Maryland has been postponed after a “Tier 1” positive COVID-19 test within the Loyola Maryland men’s basketball program, the Patriot League announced Thursday.
The Tier 1 personnel group includes student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff and officials.
Loyola, who the Eagles are scheduled to play six times across three weekends, is the first men’s basketball program in the Patriot League to postpone a game due to a positive test.
According to a statement released by the Patriot League, the two games that were scheduled for Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 will be rescheduled following discussion among the two schools and the Patriot League office.
When the Patriot League first announced the schedule for the 2021 men’s and women’s basketball seasons in November, the regular season was scheduled to end on Feb. 21 and the conference tournament scheduled to begin on Mar. 6 and 7. This left the last week of February and the first week of March as potential openings to make up regular season games that were postponed.
While Loyola will postpone their games this weekend against AU and next weekend against Navy, the Eagles will now play their first two games in a Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 doubleheader against Lehigh. The Eagles and Greyhounds are now scheduled to play the first two of their six matchups in a Jan. 23 and 24 doubleheader.
