Edwin Ubiles Player Card

Photo from last night

- O.D. Anosike committed his third foul with 6:51 to go in the first half.
- Siena had three players with two fouls on the floor in the first half.
- Kyle Downey fouled out with 4:17 remaining.

I was going for an offensive rebound, the ref called a foul I was kind of just walking off and all the sudden I got pushed in the back and then a scuffle ensued. You know luckily we were able to overcome the foul trouble and get a big win.

It was a physical game, the refs were calling it tight.

- O.D. Anosike

It’s still kind of unclear why it was a double technical, when O.D. was clearly shoved by Torgrim Sommerfeldt, a player who averages just 2.4 minutes a game and played only 2 tonight. Managing a roster of six guys, especially in a game like this is a skill and Coach B deserves a lot of credit.

The amazing thing about this game is that we won without Downey late. Downey was not in the game late. That bodes well for us, that means Poole and Hymes have really matured.

- Mitch Buonaguro

X-Rays on Evan Hymes left knee revealed no fracture according to Siena’s sports medicine staff. Hymes will likely be withheld from practice for a couple days. His status for Saturday night’s game against Manhattan will depend on how the injury heals this week.

The Saints took a game high eleven point lead with about two minutes to go on their 18th consecutive successful free throw attempt. Siena was 25 of 30, by far their best performance of the year from the free throw stripe.

The Siena Saints (7-9) defeated the third place Manhattan Jaspers (11-5) by a final of 70-64 on Tuesday night at the Times Union Center. Evan Hymes led the Saints with 21 points on 5 of 8 from beyond the arc while Downey and Anosike added 18 and 14 respectively.

Manhattan’s PG Michael Alvarado left the game early in the first half after taking an elbow to the eye. Early reports are that the bone could be broken and he may have a concussion.

The Saints wanted it tonight. This puts Siena a half game up on Niagara for 6th place in the MAAC.

[Evan Hymes] played like he was the best PG in the league tonight.
- Steve Masiello

From SienaSaints.com

Kyle Downey wasn’t about to let the Saints lose this one. The senior scored 15 points and stuffed the statsheet with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in his final visit to the gym his brother once starred at as Siena rolled to its first MAAC road win in over a year, trouncing Canisius 60-50 in Buffalo Saturday.

The Saints snapped a four-game losing streak, and remain in a sixth place tie with Niagara, which defeated Rider 84-82 at home today. The top six teams get a bye in the MAAC Championships.

Siena dominated the game inside, out-scoring Canisius 42-18 in the paint. OD Anosike had 15 points and 11 rebounds to round out his 19th double-double of the season, and Brandon Walters added seven points and 10 boards.

Downey made 7-17 field goals, after connecting on just 2-14 in a 58-54 loss at Niagara Thursday. He scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, the majority on aggressive drives to the basket. Classmate Owen Wignot finished off his strongest weekend of the season with nine points, four rebounds, four steals and three blocks.

The Griffs led 23-22 after a Gaby Belardo 3-pointer with 8:14 left in the first half, but the Saints scored 15 of the last 18 points before inter mission to take a 37-26 lead to the lockerroom, and led by double figures the rest of the way. Belardo and Alshwan Hymes made five of Canisius’ six 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes of the game. Then Siena’s defense locked down.
“After the last media of the first half, we said `They don’t get another sniff the rest of the night,’” Downey said. “They were the only ones really hurting us.”

The Saints limited Canisius to just a single basket over a nearly 12-minute stretch that bridged the two halves.

“I thought we were really well prepared,” Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro said. “Our defense was tremendous, and our offense picked it up.” Siena took much better care of the basketball than it did during its four-game slide. The Saints had 12 assists and just eight turnovers Sunday after entering the game with the worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the MAAC.

Harold Washington scored 13 of his-game high 16 points in the second half to lead Canisius, but many came after the outcome was already clear.

The Saints return home to face Manhattan on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. They close the season with road games at Hofstra and Marist, and a home game against Canisius Feb. 26.

The Saints have yet to win a conference road game this season. At 5-9, Niagara and Siena are now tied for 6th in the MAAC with 4 games to play. The Purple Eagles finish the season with Rider, Canisius at home and at St. Peter’s and Marist, while Siena will finish with Manhattan at home, Marist away and two games against Canisius. As usual, the 6th seeded team will have the first night off in the MAAC Tournament.

Freshman Ameen Tanksley erupted for a career high 24 points and Juan’ya Green added 16 points and 6 rebounds.

OD Anosike fouled out of the game just a shade before the 4 minute mark, and finished the night with 9 points and 8 rebounds. Owen Wignot looked strong with a clutch 3 late in the game, and finished with 11 points and added 9 boards.

Siena cut it to a one possession game with :56.1 remaining, and eventually cut the deficit to 1 on a clutch Evan Hymes 27 footer inside of 30 seconds. After an intentional foul, Brandon Hall converted two free throws and then stole the ball from Evan Hymes and laid it in for the win. The Saints had two chances to corral a rebound in the final minute but both times the Peacocks came away with the basketball. Although the Saints were in a position to win late, the game truly turned when Siena converted just one point between the 9:22 and 2:57 minute marks of the second half.

O.D Anosike’s nation leading 17 game double-double streak came to an end, largely in credit to Darius Conley’s defense, as Anosike closed the night just shy with 9 points and 13 rebounds.

The Peacocks blocked 6 Siena shots on the night and were led by Conley’s 15 points and 6 rebounds. Brandon Hall, Yvon Raymond, and Lamin Fulton each added 11 points for St. Peter’s. The Saints were led by Kyle Downey’s 15 points, and Hymes’ 14 points and 6 assists. Siena frustrated St. Peter’s early in the contest– eventually leading to a John Dunne technical foul and a 9 point advantage at the break.

The Saints travel to Bridgeport, CT on Sunday afternoon to take on the Fairfield Stags.

The Saints led 47-40 with about ten and a half minutes remaining, but as we’ve seen in recent games, the Saints just couldn’t keep their legs past 30 minutes. Kyle Downey (knee) turned the ball over 9 times out of Siena’s 16 total and eventually fouled out of the game. He’s really feeling the effects of his injury and inability to practice during the week. Kyle finished the night with 15 points. Evan Hymes (hand) was just 1-9, a slight regression from his 2-10 performance against Manhattan.

The turning point in the game was Loyola’s 15-0 run midway through the second. At one point in the second half, Siena was 8-10 from the field to Loyola’s 4-16, however that turned around quickly when Loyola went on their run. Also notable is the fact that Loyola out-rebounded the Saints 40-29.

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olsen added 17 and 16 points respectively, and Junior Erik Etherly had a double double with 12 points. OD Anosike (back) continues his streak of double doubles, with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Rob Poole saw just 14 minutes tonight, despite averaging nearly double that on the season.

That’s what they do, they get you in spurts, they got us 3 or 4 times… We played so hard and so well, but they got us with that one run.

-Tobin Anderson

The Saints had previously won 5 in a row in Maryland. The team will travel back by bus to Siena tonight, and look to avenge their biggest conference loss in school history on Saturday night.