Anosike, who won Player of the Week, has recorded 17 straight double-doubles, tying Tim Duncan’s streak as the second longest in Division I over the last 15 seasons. His 17 points and 15 rebounds led the Saints to their upset win over Iona. Anosike’s 21 points and 12 rebounds helped lift Siena to their 10th straight win over Marist. His effort against Rider, 22 points and 16 rebounds, were both game-highs despite the Saints falling to the Broncs.

Meanwhile Poole earned his Rookie of the Week honors by scoring 14 points and tossing out six assists in Siena’s 65-62 win over Iona. Poole had 9 of his 14 over the final eight minutes, outpacing the Gaels as a team over that period. Poole bested that by scoring a season-high 15 in Siena’s win over Marist and added a 6 point, 5 assist game in the Saints loss to Rider.

Siena junior OD Anosike was named MAAC Player of the Week Monday. Anosike, who turns 21 Tuesday, captures the honor for the first time in his career. He shares the award with Loyola’s Erik Etherly.

Anosike ran his nation-leading active consecutive double-double streak to eight games in Siena’s 67-60 upset of Florida Atlantic Wednesday. He finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the victory, and keyed the Saints’ game-changing surge at the start of the second half.

Anosike leads the MAAC and ties for third nationally with 12 rebounds per game. Over the last nine games, he is tops on the team with 16.8 points and 12.2 boards per game. In short, he’s playing as well as any big man in the conference.

A preseason MAAC Third Team pick, Anosike has reached double figures in rebounding in 11 of Siena’s 12 games.

SienaSaints.com reports that Evan Hymes ranks 13th among all freshman nationally in scoring and is on pace to become just the second rookie to lead the Saints in scoring in the 71-year history of the program.

Hymes averaged 20 points while shooting 52% from the field and 50% from 3-point range in the first two games of his collegiate career. The point guard’s marquee effort came in his first road game when he scored 30 points at Mount St. Mary’s, the most by a Siena freshman in a game since February of 2005. Hymes made 9-17 field goals and 3-5 3-pointers in the 12-point win. Forced into the starting rotation in his collegiate debut against Navy due to a season-ending back injury to Rakeem Brookins, Hymes turned the ball over just three times total in Siena’s two wins to start the year. More impressive, Hymes left both games early due to leg cramps, and averaged just 28.5 minutes per game.

From SienaSaints.com…

Rossiter saved his best for last. He scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Siena’s Senior Night win over archrival Marist. In the process, he broke Siena’s 61-year old single-season rebounding record, and racked up the 66th double-double of his career.

He leads the MAAC in points and rebounds per game– I would be shocked if he’s not MAAC POY.

Ryan shares the Player of the week honors with Junior Guard Scott Machado of Iona.

Photo courtesy of Shane Bufano for Siena Saints Blog.

Ryan Rossiter is the MAAC Player of the Week for the fifth time in his career. Rossiter now has 37 double-doubles in his career and is just an unbelievable player. He shares the POW honor with Kyle Smyth of Iona, who put up 29 against UAlbany.

A Siena player has won the award in all three weeks this season.

Freshman: 11MPG, 1.9PPG, 2.9RPG
Sophomore: 30MPG, 10.0PPG, 7.9RPG
Junior: 33MPG, 13.8PPG, 10.0RPG

The preseason hype comes as no surprise as he looks to be the third straight Saint to bring home the MAAC Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of former teammates Kenny Hasbrouck (2008-2009), and Alex Franklin (2009-2010);

Can Rossiter deliver Siena’s third straight MAAC Player of the Year?
As the season approaches I find myself asking the following questions:

-How will Ryan generate his own offense with the loss of Ronald Moore’s court vision?

-Will the known fact that Coach B plans on going deeper into the bench this year lead to a decrease in Ryan’s minutes?

-With Ryan being more involved in the scoring offense, will that hurt into his rebounding on the offensive glass?

All in all, Ryan has done very little to disappoint the loyal Siena fans, playing above his potential year after year. Albeit the questions do linger, his work ethic and hustle night in and night out cannot be ignored, thus I envision a season ending stat line resembling 14.8PPG, and 9.0RPG. Are those stats enough to win MAAC POY, of course, just take a look at the reigning POY Alex Franklin’s stat line from last season, 33MPG, 16.1PPG, 8.1RPG.

At the end of the day stats are just that stats, and the personnel accolades tend to follow when combined with wins and Championship banners. Do I believe Ryan will bring home the third straight MAAC POY to Loudonville? My gut is telling me it’s too early to make this kind of bold prediction, but with such a wide open conference this year, a deeper bench, and a younger nucleus around him, I am pressed to say no. Needless to say I sure will be rooting Rossiter on along with the rest of the team towards another successful season in Green and Gold.

We also had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Ryan and here is what he had to say:

SienaSaintsBlog: What conference game(s) did you circle this year on the schedule?

Ryan Rossiter: It is going to be a grind night in and night out in conference, but I would say Fairfield, Marist, and Manhattan.

SSB: Who is the toughest player to go pound for pound in the MAAC?

Ryan: It is hard to name just one player but the ones that come to mind are: Corey Bower (Marist), Ryan Bacon (St. Peter’s), and Derek Needham (Fairfield).

SSB: Who would you say is going to break onto the scene this year and make the biggest impact on the team?

Ryan: I would have to say the combo of Griffin, Rakeem, and John Breeden at PG. They have some big shoes to fill with the departure of Ronald Moore.

SSB: What did you do over the summer break?

Ryan: I worked out in the weight room putting on 25lbs., and worked out with my older brother Steve Rossiter (a 2010 graduate of Davidison who saw some success in the 2009 NCAA Tournament). I did miss an NBA workout in Indianapolis due to a brief illness.

SSB: What are your team goals for the season?

Ryan: A fourth straight MAAC Championship.

SSB: Knowing personal accolades are not your first priority, what would you say is your top goal this year that is consistent with your team’s success?

Ryan: I feel that it’s hard to focus on one personal goal in particular, but I do believe that personal success goes hand in hand with our team’s success.

SSB: In a few words how would you describe your team?

Ryan: Young, Tough, Driven, Up for a Challenge

SSB: In a few words how would you describe your game?

Ryan: Toughness, Hard Working, Pound the Glass

Can Rossiter deliver Siena’s third straight MAAC Player of the Year?

Rossiter, picked first team All-MAAC at the end of last year, will start this season as the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.

I have said for a while that I expect Ryan to have a down year– that he will miss Moore distributing him the ball, since he is so good cutting into the lane– better than many forwards I have watched over the years.

That said, you can’t dispute three things– number one, his toughness, two, his ability to rebound the basketball, and three, his level of improvement over each off-season. Nobody saw Ryan exploding on to the scene the way he did when he was a Sophomore, and he only got better as a junior. Knowing how hard Ryan works, and that he’s got his brother to keep his skills fresh, I expect Ryan to be the MAAC POY when all is said and done.

Read More at SienaSaints.com