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.

Siena came back after falling behind by a 20-2 margin in the first four and a half minutes to pull off a 65-62 upset over top ranked Iona at the Times Union Center on Monday night.

Iona opened the game on an 11-0 run but the Saints used a 12-0 run of their own for 5 critical minutes of the second half to give the Saints their first lead at 58-57. Kyle Downey’s three pointer gave the Saints a one-point lead then and with 51 seconds left, Downey’s jumper gave the Saints a 63-62 lead they would hold onto. The senior Downey scored 16 points while junior O.D. Anosike had a team-high 17 points and team-high 15 rebounds.

Sean Armand, who lit up the Saints with 32 points in their last meeting 20 days prior, drew a technical foul with 5:38 left in the first half and was held to 0 points in the contest. Armand’s teammate Scott Machado drew one with 1:11 left in the first half. Preseason Player of the Year Michael Glover led the Gaels with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman Rob Poole made his presence off the bench felt with 14 points, making two-three pointers and dishing out a team-high 6 assists to go with 6 rebounds after playing a season low 14 minutes on Thursday at Loyola. It looked like Poole was calling for the basketball late in the game, ice in his veins!

Siena held Iona to 3 for 16 from three point range after giving up 17 for 39 in their last meeting.

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.

Friday night at the Arc, it’s Siena vs. Fairfield in the 12th annual Pink Zone game in support of CRAAB, Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer. Wear pink. Visit http://www.sienasaints.com/pinkzone/ for more information.

Coach B was wondering, with all of Siena’s lack of depth and their youth, “why don’t teams press us more”. Coach went on to discuss the Manhattan loss

Our depth issue is obviously a problem, [Manhattan] played Evan physically. The second half of the game, our mental errors and turnovers got us into that 20 point deficit.

When asked how does he plan on keeping the team fresh when only playing 6 players, Coach B. explained…

- Kyle Downey has not practiced in the last 10 days
- Coach B. is worried Evan is wearing down
- OD has a back issue and did not practice yesterday

OD Anosike and his counterpart Brandon Walters both put up double-doubles on the night. Anosike now leads the nation in consecutive double doubles at 12, after his 23 point and 14 rebound effort. Walters had his best night of the year with 14 points and 12 boards. As Doug Sherman mentioned on the broadcast, OD Anosike is clearly playing his way into the conversation for MAAC Player of the Year. As a team, Siena snagged 15 offensive rebounds and combined for their highest point total of the season.

Kyle Downey put up 11 points and added 6 rebounds and 6 assists on the night. Downey fouled out on a cheap call and got a technical to end his night. In the first half, Downey picked up his third foul with 6:30 to go and Mitch Buonaguro elected to leave him in the game, despite having both Walters and Hopper on the bench. The Saints played at their own pace– slowing it down to protect the guys in foul trouble.

Brandon Penn closed the night with 15 points and 13 rebounds for Rider, and Jonathon Thompson led the way with 16 points and 7 assists. Both teams shot exactly 28-64 from the floor.

Breaking:Manhattan defeats Iona 75-72 in New Rochelle with :01 to go.

Trailing 18-8, the Saints started an 8 point run with an Owen Wignot three point play, and capped it off with a Kyle Downey 3. Speaks well to the way this team has been playing lately– the senior leaders have been great contributors.

Kyle Downey followed up Friday’s performance with 18 points and 6 rebounds. However this time it was OD Anosike leading the team in points. Anosike finished with a career high 27 points to go along with 14 rebounds. OD continues with his 11-game double-double streak.

Niagara shot just 3/21 from three point land, which according to Joe Mihalich, just isn’t going to be enough for that team to win games. “We play four guards, we’re not going to beat anybody [shooting 3/21].”

Niagara has not won in the Times Union Center since 2005.

In the “nfl controversy”, the Giants are looking good, up 2 scores over the Falcons.

Make it three scores. This team is dangerous, now they have their running backs back, they have the best pass rush in the league, and Manningham is their third receiver. Don’t forget, pro bowler and Super Bowl winner Eli Manning.

A recharged Siena Saints (4-7) returned to the Times Union Center on Thursday night to defeat the Princeton Tigers (6-7) by a final score of 63-59.

Anosike finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 7th double-double in a row and 10th in 11 games this season. He is now tied for second in the nation in rebounding at 12.1 boards per game. Evan Hymes led the team with 22 points on 7-13 from the field, and added 5 assists. Kyle Downey finished with a career high 10 rebounds and 15 points.

Siena trailed by as many as 6 after a Davis 3-pointer with just under 12 minutes to go in the second half. However the Saints came on late– in a 4 point game with 2:08 left to go, Anosike put the game away, converting a traditional three point play on the feed from Downey.

Trenity Burdine did not make his 2011-12 debut tonight, as rumored earlier this month. Siena played just six players, with Rob Poole adding 27 minutes off the bench.

Princeton’s Douglas Davis was 7-14 from beyond the arc, tallying up 23 total points on the night.

Evan Hymes was on thin ice all night, getting into foul trouble late in the first half and early in the second. The freshman point guard put up just 8 points on 4-10 from the field. Brandon Frazier and Chris Gaston finished the night with 14 points for Fordham and Devon McMillan led the Rams with 16 points, 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Kyle Downey led the Saints with 22 points, and OD Anosike had another double double with 18 points and 12 boards.

This team was most definitely tired, people tend to forget that there are freshmen averaging between 25-35 minutes a game. It’s no excuse, many people will say you have to give a better effort than that, but going from High School to full time at the college level is extremely difficult, and this team has had to do it with fast turnarounds.

I think what happens with a young team is when you don’t score offensively, it hurts your defense as well.
- Tobin Anderson (Postgame)

In last night’s post game press conference, Mitch talked about how he was impressed with the young kids in the second half [for those who didn't see the game, it was Downey, Anosike, Poole, Hymes and Beard most of the second half].

Sure, the young kids have impressed, especially Evan Hymes. Evan’s been most impressive when he goes full speed into the lane and not when he’s chucking up 27 foot jumpers. Evan was the fastest guy on the floor tonight– playing with some serious intensity. The first time the Saints cut the lead to 6, Hymes got on the silent crowd in the Times Union Center– violently raising the roof and calling out the crowd to make some noise. Well done Evan. This crowd needs to be more into the game– these kids have been on the road since before Thanksgiving, when they’re making a run the crowd needs to get behind this team quickly and show some respect for the “don’t quit” attitude these guys have shown.

Last night, I thought that the only thing keeping Siena out of this game was the silly mistakes. Even with Cormier going off from three point land and the Greyhounds grabbing 12 offensive boards to the Saints’ 6, they were right in this game. Siena turned the ball over at least three times on inbounds plays last night. I’ll forgive the times where some young kids couldn’t handle a trap or the press, those are growing pains and those kids are going to get better, but if they cut out some of those mistakes and missed box-outs, they’re right there.

Siena hung with Vermont the entire day in a tough environment in Burlington, VT on Saturday afternoon. The Saints never led in the game, but did tie it on 5 occasions. Siena looked all but out of it at the 4 minute timeout when Brandon Walters fouled out to a standing ovation in the Patrick Gymnasium.

However, it was a game where you couldn’t write off the Saints, as they mounted an absolutely incredible comeback. Trailing 62-54 with 1:33 to go, Evan Hymes stole a lazy pass intended for Sandro Carissimo and scored. Vermont then stepped out of bounds on an inbound play which was followed by a Devonte Beard layup. OD Anosike then scored off a Hymes steal and got the foul call. After missing the free throw to make it a one possesion game, Poole snagged a timely offensive rebound and Siena went back to work on offense, eventually leading to Anosike converting another layup; that tied the game. The final play of the game was a missed jumper by Brendan Bald, followed up by a huge offensive rebound and tip in by Matt Glass.

OD Anosike was absolutely dominant. Anosike scored a career high 24 points, snagged 3 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Kyle Downey had a nice day from the floor, finishing 6 of 9 for 15 points and Evan Hymes added 10 points and 3 assists, as oddly, his first bucket came with just 3:15 remaining.

While the comeback was the real story of the game, perhaps the final play is a microchosm of the afternoon. The glaring stat from the boxscore shows that the Saints were out rebounded 32-23. Siena has played hard against out of conference teams that are expected to finish near the top of their respective conferences. Tobin Anderson did mention after the game that this team will “build on this”, as they head into conference play on Thursday. Senior Captain Owen Wignot did not make the trip to Vermont.

The Saints have 5 days off and will travel to the home of the defending MAAC Champions, the St. Peter’s Peacocks on Thursday at 7PM.