Ray Floriani/College Chalk Talk - St. Peter’s really did a nice job of getting after it in the man to man. There were not a lot of open looks and even the two man screen and rolls run with OD Anosike were well defended. The freshman Poole did a nice job, but even he was defended on the perimeter as St. Peter’s closed out very well.

Evan Hymes gets in the lane quickly and does distribute if he’s well defended in the paint. All too often he appears to be a ‘shoot first’ player at this stage– something you do not want at lead guard.

For Siena it is a case of not digging a deep early hole, and getting everyone healthy [alluding to the fact that the Saints were again without Owen Wignot]. Siena is very resilient coming back, but find themselves down too far to get back into it.

Owen Wignot injures himself during Wednesday night’s Siena 65-56 victory over Navy. More at SienaSaintsBlog video page.

Navy cut a lead as large as 14 down to four with a Jordan Brickman three pointer with 45.9 seconds left but the Saints were able to hold off the Midshipmen who turned the ball over and missed a three in their final two possessions.

Senior Kyle Downey asserted himself as the go to Saint early and often, driving to the basket, getting open in space, and scoring a team-high 19 points. Downey made his living from inside the arc, making 7 of 12 from two, but his clutch three with 4:28 left give the Saints a 57-48 lead. It was Siena’s second made three pointer in the game.

Siena broke the game open to a 12 point lead on a Brandon Walters layup off an Evan Hymes pass with 17:14 left. Walters, in his first start as a Saint since transferring from Seton Hall, made his presence known with a career high 12 points. Hymes who made his debut and first career start scored 10 points in 24 minutes.

Siena’s roster, already decimated by injuries and ineligible players left the Saints with a need to keep all eight available scholarship players on the floor. However the Saints were dealt with two key blows early.

Junior O.D. Anosike, who led the Saints last season in fouls, drew his second foul with 15:01 to go in the first half and saw the bench for the rest of the half. Anosike scored his first point of the season at the free throw line with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Anosike had a team-high 10 rebounds.

The injury bug continued to bite the Saints when senior Owen Wignot converted a basket with a foul with 13:41 left in the first half going down hard, drawing a blocking foul on Jordan Sugars. Wignot hit his head and was immediately assisted off the court and into the locker room. Wignot tried to warm up with the Saints before the second half started but did not return.

Without Wignot and Anosike the Saints went on a 14-2 run in the first half to take their largest lead of the half at 25-19. The Saints scored 18 points off  15 Navy turnovers.

Siena built a lead without the three pointer, freshman Evan Hymes three pointer with 38 seconds to go in the first half was the Saints first three of the game and gave the Saints a 30-25 lead heading into halftime. Siena combined to go 12 for 21 (57.1%) from inside the arc in the first half.

The Saints shot 48.9% from the field in the game, making 56.7% of their shots from inside the arc (21 for 37) and scoring 28 points in the paint. The Saints made 17 of 27 free throws (63%) for the game; however, Siena made 14 of 19 free throws in the second half after making one of their first seven.

Hymes, as a newcomer, wasn’t immune to the injury bug either when he had an injury scare with 13:03 left in the game. Hymes made a 19-foot jumper but went to the ground with apparent leg cramps.

J.J. Avila led the Midshipmen with 19 points on 9-15 shooting. Navy made just 5 of 22 shots from behind the arc.

Siena freshmen scored 29 points on the night. Other than Hymes 10 points, Robert Poole scored 7 points, Davonte Beard added 7 points and Marcus Hopper made an early basket and finished with 3 points and 2 rebounds in limited action.

Downey lost about 15 lbs– he looks as good as he’s looked since he’s been here– we’ll look to him to get points. Owen has also realized this is a big year for him and has stepped up.

[I'm] excited about freshmen Devonte Beard and Rob Poole.

Coach B also mentioned his excitement to see Marcus Hopper, a 6’8″ freshman come off the bench. He also discussed Trenity Burdine’s injury situation as he is still in a walking boot.

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Siena hosts Navy next Wednesday night, 11/16 at 7pm.

All five starters reached double figures, and Ryan Rossiter became just the second player in school history to amass 1,000 rebounds in his career, as Siena throttled red-hot Loyola 76-59 in Baltimore Friday night.

The victory snapped a two-game MAAC losing streak for the Saints (8-12/5-5), and kept the team within striking distance of the top half of the conference.

Siena used a 15-2 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 29-17 lead at the 8:01 mark of the first half and led by double figures the rest of the way.

Loyola (10-10, 6-4) lost for the first time in five games, and just the second time this calendar year. The Greyhounds knocked off MAAC front runner Fairfield, 66-65, here on January 14.

Rossiter led all players with 18 points, and picked up his benchmark rebound just 19 seconds into the second half. He left the game momentarily in the second half after being hit in the groin, and returned with vengeance. He scored seven straight points after reentering at the 15:33 mark, pushing Siena’s lead to 20, 52-32, with 13:50 to play.

The Greyhounds closed within 10, 65-55, on a 3-pointer from J’hared Hall with 6:26 to play, but Siena scored the next six points to put the game away.

OD Anosike scored a career-high 16 points and added eight rebounds for Siena. Owen Wignot had 14 points and seven boards, Kyle Downey finished with 13 and Rakeem Brookins had 11 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.

The difference in the game was Siena’s shooting and its aggressive zone defense. The Saints shot 53% from the field after consecutive games of extremely poor shooting. Loyola shot just 33% and looked lost at times.

Justin Drummond came off the bench to lead the Greyhounds with 12 points. Three players added 10 apiece.

Siena hosts Niagara Sunday at 2 p.m.

The lead got as large as 19 on a Nick Leon three pointer with 14:34 to go. From there, the Peacocks hit a big drought; going without a point for 5 minutes and 19 seconds. That allowed Siena to take all the momentum and creep back into the game.

The Saints used their defense to transition into offense, getting into the lane and drawing fouls. Siena cut the lead to 5 when John Dunne got a technical foul, and continued to pour on points at the free throw line. St. Peter’s then got a three point play with 3:15 to go to put the lead at 7 and the Saints just could not catch up.

Siena did trail by 3 with 1:07 to go when Mitch Buonaguro intelligently had Owen Wignot foul Ryan Bacon, a 56% free throw shooter, but unfortunately, he hit both. Bacon had a monster game, closing the night with 25 points and 15 rebounds, along with 6 blocks, 4 steals and 2 assists. St. Peter’s senior guard Wesley Jenkins finished with 17 points.

Rossiter closed with yet another double-double; 21 points and 16 rebounds. Trenity Burdine and Stephen Priestly saw extended minutes today none of the key players in Wignot, Downey, and Jackson were on the floor for the Saints’ second half run. Clarence left the game when he aggravated his left ankle.

Siena has not won a game where their opponents have scored more than 70 points, they are 0-8. The Peacocks snapped an 8 game losing streak against the Saints.

The Peacocks boast a BCS win over Alabama earlier in the season, but they find themselves in the middle of the conference and tied with Siena in fifth place, two games back of Fairfield and Iona who are tied for first.

St. Peter’s is led by their star shooting guard Wesley Jenkins, who is leading the team in scoring with 14 points and averaging about 5 rebounds per game.  There is also plenty of other senior leadership on the team as well.   5’11″ point guard Nick Leon is averaging about 10 points a game, 6’7″ forward Ryan Bacon is an excellent presence inside scoring 8 points a game and grabbing 6 rebounds per game, and 6’6″ forward Jeron Belin is third on the team in scoring with 9 points a game.  The Peacocks will be at a little bit of a size disadvantage to the Saints, though, and for a team that averages only 34 rebounds they will need to find a way to keep up with the Saints on the glass or else the game could get away from them.

The Peacocks are only averaging about 56 points a game, but they are an excellent defensive team, only giving up about 60 points a game.  For a team like Siena, who has had some issues shooting the ball as of late, there will be a need for a concerted effort to get high percentage shots and shoot the ball effectively.

That issue may be resolved more easily now that the Saints have welcomed back Clarence Jackson from injury.  The senior guard helped the Saints to wins over Marist and Canisius the last two games out, scoring 19 and 15 points in each respective contest.  Rahkeem Brookins continues to excel running the point, averaging an assist to turnover ratio of 4:1 over his last six games.  And OD Anosike appears to making the sophomore leap as he has averaged almost 13 points and 10 rebounds over the last four games.

Things are getting better for the Saints, but Owen Wignot’s thumb injury on his shooting hand continues to bother him, and Davis Martens may still be recovering from a sprained ankle.  The Saints will still need to continue to nurse injuries and continue to get the best out of the players and rotations they put on the floor to try and get back in to the MAAC conference race.  Iona and Fairfield are probably not coming back to the pack, so the Saints will need every win that they can get, and a difficult road win at St. Peter’s on Friday night would do a lot to build confidence for the Saints.

Siena will play four of their next five games at home, beginning on Monday night January 24th against the Rider Broncs at the Times Union Center.

Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter delivered a floater plus a free throw for a three-point play to give the Saints a 69-67 lead with 49.3 left in the game.

It was Rossiter who kept the Saints in the game with his performance but the freshman Rahkeem Brookins came to the aid of Rossiter late to give the Saints their fifth victory of the season.

The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year took control tonight. Rossiter’s layup off a Rakeem Brookins pass and completed the three point play to give the Saints a 53-48 lead. The senior Rossiter, coming off two road games where he scored a combined 14 points, erupted for a team high 26 points and 15 rebounds. Meanwhile Brookins built off of his impressive individual performances on the Saints road trip to score 11 points and dish out 4 assists.

Brookins nailed a long three pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Saints a 64-63 lead with 3:24 left. Rossiter’s hook shot over a triple-team with 1:42 left gave the Saints a 66-65 lead before the Gaels Scott Machado’s mid range jumper gave the Gaels a 67-66 lead.

The Saints did the little things to keep pace with the Gaels, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and making 17 of their 18 free throws.

Davis Martens came off the bench and tied a career-high with 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds filling in for sophomore O.D. Anosike who picked up his fourth personal foul with 14:49 left in the game. Anosike picked up his third foul with 9:07 left in the first half.

Owen Wignot quietly had a career night, racking up a career-high 9 rebounds and career-high 5 assists to go with 8 points.

The Gaels shot just 7 for 31 from three point range, shooting 3 for 17 in the first half for a team who shoots 34.6% from behind the arc, ranking 2nd in the MAAC entering tonight. Iona had a period where they went over 14 minutes without a three pointer until Rashon Dwight made a three with 17:30 left in the game.

Sean Armand nailed a dagger three with 7:02 to go to cap a 10-0 run and give the Gaels a 60-59 lead. However the Saints came back as Brookins dashed through the Iona bigs in the lane for a layup and a 61-60 lead.

The Gaels went on a 12-0 run in the first half to take a double digit lead and assume control early as the Saints struggled to make shots, shooting just 4 for 21 to start the game. However, the Saints closed the half on a 12-2 run to cut a double digit deficit to three and go into halftime trailing 34-31.

Rakeem Brookins layup off a transition pass from Owen Wignot gave the Saints a 42-41 lead with 16:50 left, their first lead since leading 3-2.

Scott Machado led the Gaels with 20 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the field. Mike Glover scored 18 points and brought down a team-high 8 rebounds.

The Saints notched their third straight home win after dropping their first four games at the Times Union Center this season.

Iona has lost 10 games in a row to the Saints and 19 out of the last 24 meetings with Siena. The Saints and Gaels are now in a four-way tie for third place in the MAAC standings with 2-1 records.

When to call or not to call a timeout, that is the question? In my opinion timeouts are an instinctual coaching decision. Coach B had the ball in the hands of one of his dynamic seniors, Clarence Jackson, with 10 seconds to play, calling a timeout would have allowed UAlbany to set up the right matchup on both Jackson and Rossiter off the timeout. It would have allowed Albany to pressure the inbounds, which Siena struggled with throughout the night– weighing in those factors, I think not calling a timeout was the “right call”.

That said, you do want to get the ball out of CJ’s hands into Rahk’s hands, so Clarence can come off a screen for a decent look, or run a pick and roll at the top of the key with Rossiter. Nonetheless there was a scramble for the ball and Rossiter had a clear look at a long range three that caromed off the back rim, sending the game to an extra session. The inexperience of this team was present yet again, as they were unable to execute in the final minutes of a hotly contested game (18 lead changes), eventually falling in overtime for the second game in a row.

Room for Improvement:
As I stated in my season preview that this team will go as Clarence Jackson goes, and the truth be told, CJ is 26-77 (33.7%) in the teams five losses, and is 14-22 (63%) in the two wins. You are not going to win too many games when you have more turnovers (19) than made free throws (17), a focal point going into a key week of practice leading up to a showdown Friday night with pre-season favorite Fairfield. Lastly, this team has shown that it’s inexperience is costly with the results in the last two OT losses, they just look out of sync when the game is on the line.

Keys to Success:
The continued dominance of Ryan Rossiter, he is an absolute beast at the mid-major level, his energy level is not matched by anyone on the court, he doesn’t know the word quit, I wish some of the other Saints would feed off his tenacity. The growth of the three or small forward with Owen Wignot and the breakout performance of Trenity Burdine is a sure plus. This position was a weak point in the first few games, but looks like it is developing into a positive as the year progresses with Wignot and now Burdine.

Five Facts:
1. Siena is 0-3 at home is their worst start since going Division I in 1976-1977.
2. Trenity Burdine had a breakout performance with a career high 16 points.
3. Rahk Brookins had a career high nine (9) assists against just 2 turnovers.
4. Saints were a perfect 13-13 from the charity stripe in the 2nd half and overtime.
5. Saints are 0-2 against the America East this season, they entered the season with a 109-47 record against teams from the America East.

Five Questions:
1. Who is going to step up to fill the role behind Clarence Jackson?
2. When will Siena win a home game?
3. Who if anyone can stop Ryan Rossiter?
4. Is Owen Wignot going to be back for the Fairfield game?
5. What happened to Kyle Griffin (did not dress for the game)?

Five Words:
Burdine bursts onto the scene.

Siena looked in control with a minute to go, as they had all the momentum, having already stormed back from a 5 point defecit where they trailed 55-49 with under 7 to go as Princeton was disrupting the offense and dominating the Saints physically.

Kareem Maddox finished with 29 30 points and 9 rebounds off the bench and the hero Dan Mavraides finished with 19. Princeton as a team shot 46.6% from the field and 80.6% from the free throw line, compared to Siena’s 38.6% and 62.1% respectively.

Owen Wignot hit a couple of huge 3s, making his case to be the third scorer coach Buonaguro is looking for this season. Wiggy finished with a season high 13 points along with 6 rebounds and an assist. Despite the loss, the Saints distributed the scoring well, as all five starters finished with over 10 points.

Ryan Rossiter, 14 points, 17 rebounds, set a school record today with his 37th double-double. Rossiter is 3 points shy of 1,000 for his career.