Siena defeated Fairfield in Overtime Monday night at the Times Union Center for their third consecutive MAAC Title. They improve their MAAC Tournament record to 31-16, and head to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history. Siena now has a 38 game home court winning streak.

With this team, it’s almost scripted. Siena comes out slow, turns on the press, turns their opponent over, and wins. Monday night was no different.

Every time Siena has needed a big shot– they have gone to Ronald Moore. With 2:07 to go in regulation, Moore gave the Saints a 60-58 lead, nailing a three pointer from the same spot he drained one from Sunday night. Moore, starting his 128th consecutive game, passed Jared Jordan for the MAAC All Time Assist Lead. He finished with 9 points and 6 assists.

Up by two with 1:28 to go, Alex Franklin dove on the basketball at mid court, and Siena, having just lost the possession arrow, promptly called a timeout. It looked like the game was sealed. A Mike Evanovich steal would lead to a Colin Nickerson layup and tie the game at 60. Siena failed to score on the ensuing possession, but Fran McCaffery would not be out coached. Fran used all four fouls they had to give to make a Fairfield buzzer beater impossible.

Edwin Ubiles took over and scored in numerous crucial moments of the contest. Ubiles scored 27 points, snagged 7 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. Junior Ryan Rossiter, coming off tying a career high 18 rebounds on Sunday, fouled out with 12.4 to go in overtime closing his night with 9 points and 12 rebounds. Followed of course by the MAAC Tournament MVP, Alex Franklin who scored 22 and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Anthony Johnson had a double-double for the Stags, scoring 14 and collecting 13 rebounds. Derek Needham scored 16 points and did a phenomenal job denying the Ronald Moore the basketball early in the game.

The Dog Pound yellow shined deep into the rafters Monday night– their presence was felt. As Siena made their runs in the second half, they were the loudest I’ve ever heard them. The Dog Pound attempted to rush the court early, but were held off until about five minutes after the game was over. 10,679 people showed up Monday night to watch the championship, padding a MAAC Tournament record of 53,569.

After the game, Fran said this about the NCAA Tournament…

We’ll be ready, [we'll] be resilient…