The time has come Albany Saints fans! The Siena basketball team will finally be on display in the Times Union Center on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. The Saints (0,0 1,0) will take on the Northeastern Huskies (0,0 0,0) in what will be the noon game of a full slate of college basketball on ESPN 2.

Coming off their opening game victory against Tennessee St., Siena comes back home to defend their 21-game home winning streak at the TUC. The team hopes to continue their second half dominance in that first game tomorrow against the Huskies, while avoiding the early chemistry issues that lead to some sloppy turnovers in the first half. All five starters in that first game played for over twenty minutes, which could be an indication for how much they will be relied upon against Northeastern and for the entire year.

Northeastern is coming off one their most successful seasons in recent memory finishing with 19 wins and matching their best conference win total in the Colonial Athletic Conference with 12 wins. This is the season opener for a Huskies team who has been predicted to finish second in the CAA by their coaches’ poll. They are lead by their senior duo of Matt Janning and Many Adako.

Janning, a 6’4” guard-forward lead the team in scoring last year with 14.3 ppg and has been selected onto the CAA preseason first team squad. Adako is a 6’8” presence down low averaging 11.3 ppg while shooting an impressive 57% from the field. Another player to watch out for is junior point guard Chisson Allen who lead the team in assists and rebounds lat year, in addition to being named as a member of the CAA All-Defensive Team. Another aspect about this Northeastern team is their ability to perform in hostile road environments, and that is something that doesn’t go unnoticed by coach McCaffery:

This is a team that won 11 road games last year – they won 19 games, 11 on the road. So it’s a team that knows how to win. So we have our hands full with them, I can tell you that.

Keys to the Game:

Siena really dictated the flow of their game against Tennessee St. with their full court defensive pressure and aggressive offensive mentality, and this will need to continue for the Saints to be successful against this experienced Huskies team. Last game Jackson and Franklin lead a pretty balanced scoring attack, but this game doesn’t appear like it will turn into the type of blowout we saw on Friday night. Ubiles will most likely need to contribute more on the offensive end, and the bench players will need to take advantage of their open opportunities.

So all those in the Albany area try to get off from work/school and make the TUC a true home-court advantage for our Saints. If you are unable to attend, do not fear because you can find live in-game updates right here at sienasaintsblog.com!