Siena’s loss snaps a 15 game win streak and gives the Saints their first loss of 2010, their last loss was December 12, 2009 at Northern Iowa. This year, four of the Saints’ five losses have been by nine points or more.

Led by Tyrone Lewis’ game high 24 points on 7-13 shooting, the Purple Eagles went on a 15-1 run the second half to put the game out of reach for the Saints. Kashief Edwards turned in a career high 20 points on 9-14 shooting.

Ryan Rossiter led the Saints with 23 points, on 8-16 shooting, and 12 rebounds. Edwin Ubiles was held to just 12 points on 6-15 shooting as Siena struggled against the home court advantage of the Purple Eagles.

Alex Franklin was held to just one second half point and went 2-8 from the field, scoring just 9 points.

Siena struggled to find the outside shot as Kyle Griffin and Clarence Jackson combined to go 2-10 from three point range.

O.D. Anosike ended up one off his season-high with 6 points off the bench for the Saints.

Alex Franklin scored 20 points to reach 20+ points for the ninth time this season. Ryan Rossiter scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Siena’s 12-0 start in conference ties the best start in school history in the MAAC, equaling last year’s start. The Saints extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 13.

Edwin Ubiles returned from the bench to score 15 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Ubiles made a jumper to close the first half, giving Siena a 39-30 lead. Ubiles made 7-11 shots from the field.

Ronald Moore dished out a team-high 11 assists as Siena shot 60% from the field.

O.D. Anosike came off the bench to score 5 points, all of which came in the second half, and grabbed 5 rebounds.

Korey Bauer led the Red Foxes with 18 points and Daye Kaba scored 17.

Siena has won 36 of its last 38 games against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents.

Without Edwin Ubiles due to a back issue and the reigning MAAC Player of the Week Alex Franklin struggling for most of the game, the Saints got a dominant effort from Ryan Rossiter and a crucial drive and lay-in by Franklin with 36.2 seconds left to propel the Saints to a 66-58 victory Thursday night.

Ryan Rossiter led the Saints with 21 points on 9-15 shooting but finished one rebound short of his seventh-straight double-double. Ronald Moore finished one assist short of a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.

St. Peter’s harassed Rossiter in the second half, at a point two defenders camped over his back wtih just over 13 minutes left. Rossiter left the game for a minute but returned after a brief stay on the bench.

Siena turned up the defense in the second half, pressing and playing aggressive multiple defenses to stifle the Peacocks in the 2nd half. Siena was able to force 19 Peacock turnovers.

O.D. Anosike came off the bench to rattle in 4 points in a tough stretch with under 10 minutes left and Kyle Griffin’s first points of the night, Siena’s first three point field goal of the night, gave the Saints a six-point lead with 8:41 to go.

Clarence Jackson made two crucial free throws with 28 seconds left to seal the Siena victory. Jackson scored 15 points on 4-11 shooting and made 7 of 10 free throws on the night.

Alex Franklin, the reigning MAAC Player of the Week, registered 10 rebounds and scored 9 points while going just 4 for 11 from the field and making just one of five free throws.

St. Peter’s kept the game too close for comfort by making 5-10 three point field goals in the second half. Wesley Jenkins led the Peacocks with 13 points on 5-15 shooting but the Peacocks made just three of eight free throws.

The Loyola Greyhounds, the team who last beat Siena at home, gave the shorthanded Saints their toughest fight in the MAAC season thus far. Siena trailed by as many as nine early to the Loyola Greyhounds, who were the last team to beat Siena at the Times Union Center on February 16, 2008.

Alex Franklin, who scored a team-high 22 points, scored 14 straight Siena points in the second half to bring the Saints within two. Ryan Rossiter, who had his fifth straight double double, made a jumper to tie the game at 60. Rossiter had a team-high 12 rebounds and 12 points.

Siena struggled with a short bench, playing only seven tonight, and appeared out of sync in the first half. Siena played only O.D. Anosike and Owen Wingot off the bench. Loyola scored 13 bench points, while Siena’s bench played 17 minutes, scoring only 6 points.

Loyola was without their two high scorers, Brett Harvey and Jamal Barney. The Greyhound’s offensive was centered around guard Brian Rudolph who finished with 13 points, and Shane Walker also added 13 points.

Edwin Ubiles scored 18 points 6 of 10 shooting while battling his back issues. Clarence Jackson struggled, shooting 1 for 10 from the field. Ronald Moore had 7 points and 7 assists.

Siena’s winning streak of 32 straight home wins is the second longest streak in the nation.

Edwin Ubiles Postgame Reactions: Video on SienaSaintsBlog.com

The Saints started out strong in the second half, quickly pushing the tempo, to turn a one-point halftime lead into a double digit second half lead. Ryan Rossiter delivered 15 of his 17 points in the second half which included an emphatic dunk off a Ronald Moore miss (VIDEO). Rossiter finished with a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds. Alex Franklin took advantage of Siena’s second chance opportunities, scoring 16 points.

Clarence Jackson’s 17 first half points negated Siena’s eight turnovers and gave the Saints a 45-44 halftime lead. The Saints shot 8 for 12 from three point range in the first half.

Derek Needham, impressive against a veteran Saints team, created off the dribble and scored 16 points. Anthony Johnson led the Stags with 20 points.

Ronald Moore had 5 points and Edwin Ubiles scored 15 points, playing strong after accounting for half of Siena’s turnovers in the first half.

O.D. Anosike had an impressive game, playing a team-high 15 minutes off the bench and providing four rebounds, two of which were offensive boards. Siena out rebounded the Stags 38-37

Siena jumped out early to a 7-0 lead, only to allow Niagara answer with seven straight points of their own. Edwin Ubiles was held out of the starting lineup due to punishment for arriving late to a meeting, team free throw shooting drills, the day before. Kyle Downey got the start as Ubiles was kept on the bench until the 12:33 mark. The Saints established their front court advantage early and often throughout the game with Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter getting plenty of attempts. Niagara overcome ten first half turnovers to only trail Siena by one, 42-41 heading into half.

The second half began with Alex Franklin getting his third foul and coming out of the game. While initially this appeared to be a blow to the Saints, the team responded with a 9-0 run within five minutes of the start of the half to put Niagara on their heels. After that, the closest the Purple Eagles got to Siena was six points, which was quickly followed by a 6-0 Saints run to essentially put the game out of reach. Despite missing nearly ten minutes of the first half, Ubiles led all scorers with 25 points and at times was unstoppable on the offensive end. Alex Franklin contributed 20 points – 10 from the foul line – even though he was doubled, and even tripled teamed, whenever he received the ball in the post. Ryan Rossiter added another double-double performance with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

For the Purple Eagles it was a tale of two halves. After shooting 48.5% from the field to start off the game, they only shot 23.5% in the second half and scored just 24 points. The first half saw six lead changes and four ties, but this quickly dissipated as the Saints never lost their lead after the 17:15 mark. Tyrone Lewis had the best game for Niagara with 21 points and was the most consistent offensive threat for the team. Anthony Nelson added 15 points, and Rob Garrison had 10 points for the Purple Eagles.

A huge factor in this game was the role of Siena’s bench, which outscored Niagara 35-8. While this number may be distorted due to Ubiles coming off the bench, the role of the usual substitutes can not be overlooked. Downey played nearly 30 minutes and hit a significant 3-pointer during a Saints run. O.D. Anosike had perhaps the best game of his career putting up 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Owen Wignot played a physical 12 minutes and was a solid defensive presence in the second half. Another positive aspect from this game was Siena’s foul shooting as they went 20-27 from the line.

• Anosike goes overtime to improve his free-throw shooting
  

  LOUDONVILLE – Earlier this week Siena freshman O.D. Anosike spent about half an hour shooting free throws before practice, which isn’t an uncommon sight.
  Anosike is shooting just 38.7 percent from the free-throw line, a number he is well aware needs to improve given the volume of fouls he draws.
  “It’s something I have to get better [...]

• A closer look at Niagara
  

  Here’s the six-pack of thoughts on Niagara, the team Siena faces Saturday at Times Union Center:
  1. Niagara, under 12th-year coach Joe Mihalich, entered the season expecting to be Siena’s primary challenger in the MAAC. The Purple Eagles returned four starters from last year’s team, which lost to the Saints in the title game. The only…

• More than 6,300 tickets sold for Saturday
  

  Siena could sell all of its alloted tickets for the first time this season Saturday against Niagara.
  As of Thursday afternoon, Siena had sold 6,316 tickets. As usual, capacity will be capped at 8,065.

• Mihalich: Moore is Player of the Year
  

  Niagara coach Joe Mihalich, whose team faces Siena this coming Saturday at Times Union Center, said Saints point guard Ronald Moore should be the MAAC’s Player of the Year.
  “Who else would it be?” Mihalich said Thursday.
  “Who makes their team win? That’s what I’m talking about. Not the leading scorer, the leading rebounder…

• Yard not yet close to returning for Siena
  

  LOUDONVILLE – Siena freshman guard Denzel Yard, who is suspended indefinitely for academic reasons, will be out “a while,” Siena coach Fran McCaffery said Wednesday.
  Yard is finishing an incomplete course between semesters. He then needs to show academic progress next semester before he can begin playing again, McCaffery said.
  “He has to completely refocus his concentration [...]

The Saints took advantage of Loyola’s first half offensive struggles and went into halftime with a 34-19 lead. The second half featured a number of timely Siena runs that quickly put the Saints well out of reach of the opposition. The largest point margin reached 30 points. Clarence Jackson led all scorers with 24 points and Edwin Ubiles added 22 points. Jackson also had a career-high 7 steals, while Ronald Moore had another big assist night with 11. The entire team ended up with 18 steals on the night. Siena’s bench also received a lot of minutes with Kyle Downey chipping in 6 points and O.D. Anosike putting up 5 points.

Loyola suffered from a devastating early shooting performance that prevented them from making this a competitive game. The Greyhounds simply could not overcome committing 14 turnovers in the first half alone, in addition to only hitting 8-25 from the field before half. Jamal Barney was the only player to put up double-digit points with 15 (all of which came in the 2nd half), and Julius Brooks added 8 points. A huge factor that hurt the Greyhounds was the absence of their best offensive weapon, Brett Harvey. Loyola only went to the free throw line 12 times, making just 6 opportunities.

As an underclassman, Ryan Rossiter had a tendency to get pushed around by opposing players, but those days are over. A real coach’s dream, this hustle machine has really come into his own since the later half of last season. He is averaging close to a double-double (11.8 ppg + 9.0 rpg) and is getting over a block a game. The Saints’ offense is definitely not centered around him, but Rossiter appears content to clean up misses on the glass and free up teammates away from the ball. In basketball terms he is a well-rounded player, but he also brings a lot of passion and maturity to every practice and game. Rossiter has improved his outside shot and provides a post option that Siena hasn’t had since the days of Justin Miller.

Position Grade: A -