On the final shot of regulation for both teams (first Manhattan)…

Siena Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro: “It was unbelievable. I saw the shot and I thought it was in but it’s amazing that it went out. But that’s what happens sometimes, you get a lucky bounce – we got the bounce, but the Wignot three was a big shot, he’s been a great kid in our program. He made a big shot last year against Manhattan in the conference tournament. Tonight was his time, just like a couple of nights it was Downey’s time, Wignot really shone tonight.

On the play where Brutus made three pointer that gave Manhattan a 78-75 lead with 46 seconds left…

Siena Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro: “We kind of lost Brutus – we play zone, we have to play zone – that’s what we’ve played all year. We play it most of the game even at the end of games.  We lost Brutus and he made a really good shot.  I thought the zone was good at times late in the game, we got them to throw it inside and they didn’t score. They came out and hit a lot of three’s but we stayed with the zone and obviously it worked.”

On the fan turnout at the MassMutual Center…

Siena Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro: “The fans at Siena are the best. They came out tonight and really helped helped us, almost felt like we were playing in a home arena. When we made the comeback, when we made the big shots they were great.  They’ve been great all year, they really like this team, they’ve really fallen in love with this team. They like the resolve and the resiliency. People who come to the games have been coming all year, so it’s great to have that support.”

On not starting Evan Hymes to begin the game…

Siena Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro: “I asked him today, he kind of felt better coming off the bench. It actually worked out well, because we were able to get some minutes because he had to play in the overtime. He hadn’t practice all week. It was good we got him a few minutes [to rest].”

Siena saw seniors Owen Wignot and Brandon Walters go for career highs in points and turn in huge games to hold off their careers one night longer as the Saints advance to the semifinals against Loyola on Sunday.

Wignot went for a career-high 22 points and season-high 4 three pointers. The fourth three pointer was the most critical of the game, a game tying three to help send the game to overtime with 8 seconds left.

“The Wignot three was a big shot,” Siena Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro said. “He’s been a great kid in our program. “Tonight was his time, just like a couple of nights it was Downey’s time, Wignot really shone tonight.”

Wignot, made 4 of 7 from two point range as well, testing the Jaspers defense with his mid-range game.

“He did a nice job in the middle of the zone making plays,” Buonaguro said.

Wignot’s fellow senior Brandon Walters owned the glass, blocking 5 shots and scoring a career-high 19 points along with grabbing 9 rebounds. Coach Buonaguro said he thought it Walters best game of the year.

“I had a sense he was going to play well,” Buonaguro said. “He’s been a great story this year, didn’t play a lot last year behind Ryan Rossiter, and now really getting his confidence. He’s played some really good games for us.”

Walters and Junior O.D. Anosike held the Jaspers to 42% from two-point range for the game – including a dominant 4 for 17 (23.5%) from inside in the first half that gave Siena success in the zone.

“Well with Walters and Anosike, we want them to stay of foul trouble, so we talk about getting their hands up.” Buonaguro said of their philosophy in the zone. “They’re big, they’re both 6’8” and long so they present problems for small guys. [Rhamel] Brown struggled late in the game going over Walters and Anosike, he’s only 6’5”.

Siena was able to turn up the defense late and get enough stops, only letting Manhttan make 2 of 9 field goals in the overtime period.

“Earlier in the half they were scoring, they were going to [Roberto] Colonette and Brown but we turned it up a notch at the end,” said Mitch Buonaguro of his conference leading two point field goal percentage defense.

The other end of the senior trio, Kyle Downey, took over the point for freshman Evan Hymes to start the game. Downey ended up with 7 points, fouling out with 4:17 to go in the second half.

Buonaguro said that Hymes felt better not starting, after nursing a left knee injury all week and missing practice.

“I asked him today, he kind of felt better coming off the bench,” Buonaguro said. The Siena coach said coming off the bench to start the game helped curb his minutes, despite having to play in the overtime period. Hymes ended up being a good facilitator, dishing out a game-high 10 assists in 37 minutes.

The MAAC All-Rookie Team member Hymes starting the game on the bench allowed freshman Rob Poole to get his fifth start on the season – where he turned in a career game with 16 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.

Buonaguro said his Saints found some confidence playing freshman in the overtime period and surviving the game without the senior Downey for the final 9 minutes of the game.

“The amazing thing about this game is that we won without Downey late,” Buonaguro said. “That bodes well for us, that means Poole and Hymes have really matured.”

The Saints are 8-1 when Poole scores double-digit points.

They will advance for another day to play Loyola in game two of the MAAC semifinals at approximately 4:30pm ET on ESPN3. Loyola have beaten the Saints twice this season but Siena will try to turn around their ways turning the ball over against the Greyhounds to have a chance at winning the semifinal game.

“I’m expecting tomorrow with a short bench they’ll press us but we handled a pretty big press tonight and did pretty well,” Buonaguro said.

The Saints turned the ball over just 14 times and dished out 22 assists on the night.

The Saints and Jaspers battled for 45 minutes with the Saints holding on for a 84-82 victory in the final game of the night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Manhattan had an opportunity to tie the game in the final 5 seconds but saw their shots rattle around the backboard and Rob Poole grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded to give the Saints a win in their first overtime game of the season.

With 53.8 seconds remaining in overtime, the Saints couldn’t convert and turned the ball over on a shot clock violation up 83-82. Manhattan’s Liam McCabe-Moran missed a three pointer on the ensuing possession with 32 seconds left.

With 5.8 seconds left in regulation, Manhattan’s Kidani Brutus missed a fade away jumper that spun around the rim twice and spit out to the ground. The shot would have won the game for the Jaspers and advanced them to the MAAC Semifinals for the first time since 2006.

Siena, with under two minutes left in the second half, forced the ball inside to First Team All-MAAC Junior O.D. Anosike, who posted up and scored with his back to basket to give the Saints a 75-73 lead with 1:05 to go. The lead wouldn’t last long when Kidani Brutus made a three pointer at the top of the key with 46 seconds left to give the Jaspers a 76-75 lead.

Rob Poole missed a three pointer with 20 seconds to go from the wing but Owen Wignot did not miss knocking down a huge three pointer in front of the Siena bench with 7.8 seconds to go.

Fouls gave the Saints trouble all night. O.D. Anosike was assessed a technical foul along with Manhattan’s Torgrim Sommerfeldt in an altercation during the first half. Kyle Downey fouled out of the game with 4:17 left, ending the game with 7 points and 5 assists. Downey had to run the point for the first three minutes of the game since freshman Evan Hymes did not start. Hymes entered with 17:09 left in the first half.

Evan Hymes ended up with 6 points on 2 of 7 shooting. Hymes moved to second place All-Time for Freshman scoring in the Siena history, passing Jack McClinton from 2004-05. Only Michael Haddix, who scored 440 points during the 2002-03 season, has scored more in their first year than Hymes.

O.D. Anosike finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Anosike is now third all-time amongst Siena’s single season rebounders. Last year, Ryan Rossiter moved to first in the record book with a 408 rebound season.

Freshman Rob Poole scored a career high 16 points in his fifth career start for the Saints.

Siena moves on to face Loyola in the MAAC semifinals on Sunday at approximately 4:30pm ET on ESPN3.

Kyle Downey ran the point for the first three minutes, until Hymes entered with 17:09 left in the game. Hymes made his first three pointer with 13:11 left to cut the Manhattan lead but Junior George Beamon followed it up with his 4th three pointer made in as many attempts.

Evan Hymes attempted to give it ago in warmups, changing from sleeve on the knee to being heavily taped up but did not crack the starting lineup for Siena. Rob Poole started in Hymes’ place, his fifth start for the Saints this season.

Without Hymes, Siena struggled in the first 28 seconds of the game. The Saints gave up a three pointer to Donovan Kates and then turned the ball over in the Manhattan fullcourt press, allowing a Emmy Andujar dunk in transition. Saints Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro called an immediate timeout.

Siena cut the Jaspers lead to one, at 29-28, with a Rob Poole two-pointer with 7:46 left, energizing the Saints crowd. Siena forced Manhattan into some stops but tempers flared at 6:51 when a technical was assessed to Siena Junior O.D. Anosike and and Manhattan Sophomore Togrim Sommerfeldt. Sommerfeldt shoved Anosike out of the paint after the whistle blew, the referees ran in to take control of the situation while Manhattan Head Coach Steve Masiello ran out to get his players out of jostling with the Saints. Anosike tied the game up at 29 with a free throw on the previous foul by Sommerfeldt prior to the technical call.

Then the two teams went back and forth on for the remaining minutes. Senior Brandon Walters grabbed a rebound off a Rob Poole miss to give the Saints 34-32 lead with 4:50 left. Fellow senior Owen Wignot made a mid-range jumper to give the Saints a 36-32 lead with 3:59 to go. Manhattan’s Roberto Colonette made a shot plus a free throw on a foul to give the Jaspers a 37-36 lead. Walters took a pass from Poole and scored a traditional three point play to give the Saints a 39-37 lead with 1:29 left. Colonette made two free throws on the other end to tie it with 1:16 left. Owen Wignot two point fade away jumper gave Saints 41-39 lead with 33 seconds left.

Rob Poole has 12 points to lead the Saints. The Saints are 7-1 when Poole scores double-digits in a game, their only loss was to Hofstra in the BracketBuster game. Beamon leads the Jaspers with 15 points, all on five made three pointers.

Siena has made 55% of their two pointers, going 11 for 20 from two point range and adding four three pointers. Siena is holding Manhattan to 23.5% from inside the arc, the Jaspers just making 4 of 17 from the inside – but their 8 three pointers on 14 shots have kept them in the game.

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.

Listen »

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.