The Siena Saints Men’s Basketball team open their 2009-2010 season Friday night at 7:00 Central Time against the Tennesee State Tigers at the Gentry Center in Nashville, Tennesee.

The Saints will begin their campaign for three straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships and their third trip to the NCAA tournament in as many years.  They return the “Big Three” in starting seniors PG Ronald Moore, PF Alex Franklin, and wing man Edwin Ubiles.  Junior center Ryan Rossiter returns as does last year’s reigning MAAC sixth man of the year junior Clarence Jackson, who assumes the starting two guard position relinquished from graduated Kenny Hasbrouck.

Hasbrouck’s shoes will be difficult to fill, but the dynamic and versatile Jackson hopes to build on the eight points per game he averaged while playing fifteen minutes per game last year.

Tennesee State is a team that is full of youth and is led by first year head coach John Cooper.  They return two starters from last year in 5’10″ G Jeremiah Crutcher, senior, and 6’7″ F Darius Cox, junior, who started 20 and 21 games respectively last year.  Returning players who look to start are 6’7″ senior F Lonnie Funderburke and 6′ sophomore G Will Peters, who started 7 and 6 games respectively last year.  The Tigers welcome eight new players in all, five freshman and three junior college transfers.  The team won six straight games last year before heading in to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, and finished with a record of 12-18, and a conference record of 9-9.

Tennesee State has a lot of athletes on the team, but do not have a decided size advantage against the Saints.  The Saints will continue to develop the motion offense instituted by head coach Fran McCaffery, but coach also has the new challenge of deciding on his substitution rotation.  While Tennessee State has eight new players, coach McCaffery has three new freshman, transfer G Kyle Griffen from LaSalle, F Davis Martens who joins the team after a brief stint in professional basketball in Europe, and two sophomores, G Kyle Downey and F Owen Wignot.  The challenge early on for McCaffery is to figure out how to get the youngsters minutes, while maintaining balance in the lineup.  Expect Wignot or Downey to be the first off the bench, and freshman F O.D. Anosike to be the next reserve in.  Freshman guards Denzel Yard and Jonathan Breeden will get minutes, but expect them to be limited in the early parts of the season as they continue to learn the program’s system.  Senior F Steven Priestley will also get time, and should be a valuable contributer as a player who has demonstrated an ability to come off the bench and help with rebounding.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Siena needs to push the tempo and use their athleticism to press their opponents all year long.  Opening season games on the road are always difficult, so while Siena has a distinct advantage in experience, anything can happen in a one game setting.  While this game will go a long way towards setting the tone for the season, the next game will be even more important, with the Saints hosting CAA opponent Northeastern, who will be vying for their own conference championship, at home next Tuesday.  The Saints need to make sure they take this young team seriously and execute the coaches’ game plan like any other game without looking ahead to Northeastern.