The Siena men’s basketball program honored the most successful senior class in its 70-year history and dished out annual awards at the First Niagara Year-End Celebration Monday night at the Hilton garden Inn in Troy.

With YNN Sports Director Joe Calderone serving as master of ceremonies, Former head Coach Fran McCaffery and current Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro both spoke to an excited audience, and all enjoyed highlight videos and heard from each of the program’s five senior student-athletes.

Coaches and administrators, including Siena vice presidents Linda Richardson and Ned Jones as well as Albany county executive Michael Breslin were in attendance to pay tribute to the senior class and celebrate the Saints’ tremendous season.

Athletic Director John D’Argenio presented former Head Coach Fran McCaffery with the Howard T. Tucker Award for his contributions to Siena Basketball.

Director of Basketball Operations David Matturro began the player awards by presenting the Dan Cunha Defensive Player Award to Edwin Ubiles. He then presented the Billy Harrell Top Rebounder Award to Ryan Rossiter.

Ubiles was a NABC First Team All-District, Second Team All-MAAC and MAAC All-Tournament team selection. He was also one of 21 seniors invited to participate in the Reese’s All-Star Game and one of the top-64 players invited to the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament. Ubiles told the Times Union prior to Tuesday’s event that he expects to be selected in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Rossiter was named to the All-MAAC First Team. He ranked seventh nationally and set a Siena Division I Record with 379 rebounds. Rossiter also led the MAAC in field goal percentage and set a Siena program-record with 22 double-doubles which ranked third nationally

Assistant Coach Adam Chaskin presented the Jim Sullivan Most Improved Player Award to Kyle Downey and the Siena Newcomer Award to OD Anosike.

Downey appeared in 24 games, averaging five points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He played a key role despite missing the entire off-season with a fracture in his back, and battled back from a broken ankle suffered in mid-January to emerge as the team’s sixth man down the stretch. Downey started Siena’s NCAA Tournament game against Purdue when Clarence Jackson could not play because of an ankle injury.

Anosike played in all 34 games, providing great depth and production in the post. He averaged 2.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Anosike shot 51% from the field and played just over 12 minutes per game.

Buonaguro presented the Hustle Award to junior guard Clarence Jackson and the Fr. Benjamin Kuhn Student-Athlete Award to sophomore transfer Kyle Griffin.

Jackson was a Third Team All-MAAC selection and finished second in the conference with 71 3-pointers. He averaged 13.6 points and shot 43% from the field, starting Siena’s first 33 games of the season.

Griffin, a sophomore marketing and management major holds a 3.5 GPA. After sitting out the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, Griffin emerged as a key contributor, appearing in 18 games and averaging 2.2 points per game while shooting 37% from 3-point range.

McCaffery closed the awards portion of the evening by honoring Ronald Moore, Alex Franklin and Ubiles with the Doc Marcelle Most Valuable Player Awards.

Franklin was named MAAC Player of the Year, MAAC Tournament MVP and was a NABC All-District Selection. He led the Saints with 16.1 points and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top-5 in scoring, rebounding (8.1) and field goal percentage (55.5%).

Following the awards presentation the five senior student-athletes spoke at length about their time at Siena and expressed their gratitude to those who helped make their Siena experience a positive one.

The Siena men’s basketball class of 2010 will go down as the greatest in the 70-year history of the program. Their 97 victories are the most in Siena history, and they won three MAAC Championships and two NCAA games. Moreover, the seniors posted 20 wins while reaching the MAAC Championship game in each of their four years.

The nearly four-hour celebration concluded with McCaffery introducing Buonaguro who closed the program by commenting on the state of the program.

This is a reminder that absolutely nothing good can come out of driving a car while under any influence whatsoever. Kids– just pay the $3 for a cab.

2006-2007 Season

Siena beats UAlbany in double overtime 76-75. Ubiles scores 20 points after hitting 4 from beyond the 3-point arc.

In a normal February game against Manhattan, Ronald Moore has his first double digit asst game with 10 dimes. This would be the first of many. Recap »

After losing two very close games to Marist earlier in the year, the Saints beat the #1 ranked Red Foxes in a semifinal classic and head to the title game for the first time since 2004. Recap »

Alex Franklin ends his freshman year with a bang by scoring 27 points on 10 out of 12 shooting in Siena’s 83-79 MAAC championship loss to Niagara. Recap »

2007-2008 Season

Siena defeats 20th ranked Stanford 79-67 at the Times Union Center. Franklin scores 14 points and Ubiles adds 11. Students and fans stormed the court after the win. Recap »

Josh Duell came up big on the road in Lawrenceville, NJ, hitting a three with 1.3 seconds remaining and capping an 11-2 run in the final 1:58 against the fiesty Broncs. Recap »

In the BracketBuster game the Saints went to Boise State to play the 20-win Broncos and crushed them 93-70. Franklin had a monster game with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Ubiles had 22 points and Moore had 9 assists. Recap »

Siena trounces Rider in the MAAC championship game 74-53. In a game known primarily for Tay Fisher’s six 3’s off the bench, Ubiles added 15 points and Franklin with 10 points. Recap »

For the program’s first NCCA tournament win since 1989, Siena upsets #4 seeded Vanderbilt 83-62. Ubiles scores 11, Franklin 10, and Moore has 6 assists for Siena. Recap »

2008-2009 Season

Siena plays their toughest schedule in school history. #12 Tennessee, Oklahoma State, #3 Pitt, and a Kansas team one year removed from a national title.

After going through the season not being able to beat any significant non conference teams, Siena defeats Northern Iowa 81-75 in their BracketBuster match up. In a balanced scoring game Ubiles scores 10 points, Franklin 9 points, and Moore 8 points. Even a kid made a $25,000 shot. Recap »

Siena gets revenge on Niagara from two years before by beating them in the MAAC championship game 77-70. Franklin puts up 16 points, Ubiles contributes 9 points, while Moore has 7 assists. Recap »

After getting bumped up to a #9 seed, the Saints beat Ohio State 74-72 in double overtime. Ubiles has 20 points and Franklin has a double-double performance with 10 points 13 rebounds. Moore has 11 points with his 7 assists, along with two of the most well-known shots in Siena history that extends the game into the 2nd OT where he then won it. The greatest game in Siena history Recap »

Siena took Rick Pitino and the #1 seeded Louisville to the brink, but lose a close game 79-72. All three players played well with Ubiles scoring 24 points, Franklin 19 points, and Moore with 10 assists. Recap »

2009-2010 Season

After opening up the season with a win against Tennessee State, Siena gets another victory over a solid Northeastern team 59-53. Ubiles scores nearly half the team’s points with 26. Franklin finishes with 9 points and Moore adds 5 assists in this low scoring game. Recap »

The Big Three end their career vs UAlbany with a nearly 30 point victory, 83-54. Ubiles doesn’t play much due to injuries but Franklin has 14 points while Moore puts up a double-double with 13 points 11 assists. Recap »

The seniors’ last victory together made them MAAC champions in a 72-65 defeat of Fairfield. Ubiles leads all scorers with 27 points. Franklin adds a double-double of 22 points and 12 boards. Moore contributes 9 points and 6 assists. Recap »

An end of an era came in the team’s opening round 72-64 loss to Purdue. Franklin scores 10 points and grabs 14 rebounds. Ubiles leads the team with 18 points, and Moore scores 14 points. Recap »

This will be the first meeting between the two schools, and this will be the first time the Saints travel to the west coast since their 2008 BracketBuster 93-70 win at Boise State. The tip is at 2:30 EST, broadcast on CBS and CBS HD.

The Saints will bring their high octane offense against their second straight Big Ten NCAA tournament opponent.  Last year the Saints needed double-overtime to overcome the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament, before losing to #1 Louisville after holding the lead with five minutes left to play.

The Boilermakers will be without Junior All-Big Ten Forward Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL late in the year and will miss the rest of the season.  Hummel was averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game.  Since Hummel’s exit, the Boilermakers have struggled, going 3-2 and culminating in a 27-point loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. Purdue scored 11 points going into halftime, their lowest total since 1950 and the lowest ever in a Big Ten tournament game.

Purdue was ranked in the top 5 for most of the year, and were on their way to a possible #1 seed in the tournament before the loss of Hummel.  They went undefeated in non-conference play with wins over Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, and West Virginia and tied for first in the Big Ten during the regular season with Ohio State.  While the loss of Hummel is significant, this is still a Big Ten team with major conference athletes and experience.

Hummel’s exit won’t mean that they will be without effective scorers.  6′10 Junior C JaJuan Johnson averages 15 points a game while grabbing 7 rebounds per contest, and 6′4 Junior G E’Twaun Moore averages 17 points a game.  It will come down to these two players finding a way to get to their averages, and having others step up, to keep up with the Saints in the scoring column.

While Purdue should still be able to get their points against the Saints, Coach McCaffery has been preaching to his players all week that this Purdue team is most likely the best defensive team they will face all year, if not the best overall team they have met.  The Boilermakers hold their opponents to an average of 60 points per game.  Purdue will play a traditional, slow-it-down/ugly-it-up Big 10 style game, even though they average over 70 points a game.  The biggest difference in both teams, and the one area that may be the deciding factor on Friday, is rebounding margin.

Purdue averages less rebounds per game than their opponents (33), while Siena averages more than 4 boards per game against theirs (38).  It’s going to be on Siena to hold the rebounding edge, and then to get out on the break and create quick scoring opportunities.  If Siena can produce off those breaks, it will allow them to set up their 1-2-2 press, which has been effective across the board at getting teams sideways all year.

Siena will be paced by Ronald Moore at the point, who leads the nation in assists.  The Siena frontcourt is led by MAAC conference player of the year, 6′5 F Alex Franklin who averages 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.  He is joined by Junior C, 6′9 235lb. Ryan Rossiter, who averages 14 points per game and 11 rebounds per game, getting double-doubles in 21 games this year.  While JaJuan Johnson may be the superior athlete, Rossiter has developed in to a player that many experts have said could play in the Big East.  Rossiter’s craftiness and basketball IQ, paired with the athleticism of Franklin in the frontcourt, will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.  The Saints’ wingman is 6′6 Edwin Ubiles, who is averaging 15 ppg.  Ubiles has battled injury all year, but finished with more than 20 points in the last two regular season contests and a clutch performance in the conference tournament finals scoring 27 against Fairfield.

In last year’s NCAA tournament, Rossiter went for 16 and 15 against Ohio St. while Edwin scored 20, and Edwin led the Saints against the Cardinals with 24 points and 8 rebounds in the losing effort.

One mitigating factor for the Saints on Friday is the possible loss of two guard Clarence Jackson who was averaging 14 points per game, but rolled his ankle in practice over the weekend.  Clarence left Loudonville without crutches, and did practice today, but McCaffery still said that his playing time will be determined on whether or not he can be as explosive defensively and scoring wise as he is capable of being, and not just game ready.  He is the Saints main three point threat, so others like Ubiles, reserve guard Kyle Griffin, and probably starter in Jackson’s place Sophomore Kyle Downey will need to step up.

Neither team is much of a threat from three, though, as they both average 5 or less made per game at a clip of 32% made per team.  Spectators can expect to see a clean, hotly contested game as neither team to turns it over much, each averaging less than 12 turnovers per contest, and fouls should be kept to a minimum – Purdue fouls an average of 19 times a game, but Siena leads the nations in fouls committed with 14 per game.  If outside shooting is not the deciding factor the better rebounding team will be able to impart it’s pace on the other, and in NCAA tournament games, the team that can dictate the pace is the team that usually finds the way to win.

Unfortunately, the NCAA Selection Committee didn’t hear him.
By car it would take a Siena student from campus 2,600 miles according to Google Maps, a drive of 1 day, 18 hours to reach Spokane. Moore was right, there probably won’t be a large Saints presence for their opening round game. Team manager Tim McElvoy estimates how many fans will be in the crowd this Friday for Siena’s match up with Purdue:

“Family members will obviously be there, and then the usual die-hard fans that come to all the games,” McElvoy said. “It will definitely be an older crowd; not too many students. I’m guessing there will be around 200 Siena people there.”

The past two years Siena College has offered its students a raffle to determine who would receive the school’s limited tickets to the opening round games. The tickets this year are expected to be around $60, but there’s a good chance the tickets won’t be sold out because travel costs would be too much for most students.

While those students hoping for a Buffalo or Providence playing location are disappointed, there is still a tremendous energy on campus surrounding the basketball team. While Purdue is in the Big Ten Conference and had an excellent season, they are by no means a basketball powerhouse. Robbie Hummel is quickly becoming the most talked about name amongst the student body, along with Purdue’s offensive struggles since losing him (scoring in the 40’s twice and scoring above 70 just once).

If there is one good thing to come out of the Saints playing in Spokane it will be that the site will be truly neutral. As any Siena student who traveled to Dayton last year can tell you, it was a virtual away game for the team as Ohio St. fans greatly outnumbered those who made the trip from Loudonville.

So students are slightly bummed about the location of the game, and are seriously worried about Clarence Jackson’s sprained ankle that he suffered during practice last week. However, just because the team will be in another time zone, it won’t prevent campus from basically shutting down and Albany bars from being packed as students and fans will be glued to their televisions to watch their Saints.

Who is Siena? Haven’t I seen this name the past two years in my bracket? This name is so familiar I should just pick them right? Yes, and yes.

It’s a great day in sports; it’s the day that you spend penciling in teams in your bracket, until you can’t even read through the erase marks. Many of you are here now doing your due diligence on the 2010 Siena Saints.

If your team is in, congratulations, and good luck, unless of course you’re a Purdue fan, in which case we wish bad things upon you, well, that was a little dramatic– we wish your team plays extremely poorly on Friday night. We mean like first half Purdue poorly.

Recent History

The 2008 Siena Saints dominated Vanderbilt in the first round as a #13 seed. Their 21-point win over Vanderbilt was the most lopsided #13 over #4 seed win since 1985. They would go on to lose to Villanova in the second round.

Last year, #9 Siena took #8 Ohio State to double overtime in the first round. This is where PG Ronald Moore got his name on the map, knocking down two crucial threes in the closing seconds of each OT. In the second round, they were right with Louisville with about five to go, but the #1 seed proved too much for Siena to handle.

This Season

Siena has since lost one starter and one bench player in each year, but this has not stopped them. The Saints attempted to schedule up again this season, but nobody wanted to play them. Siena had their chances for quality wins against 4 NCAA Tournament teams; they lost a close one against Temple, lost at Georgia Tech (without Ubiles), competed closely with Northern Iowa, and got smoked by Butler.

Siena simply dominated the MAAC conference this season. Including the conference tournament, the Saints were 20-1 this season. In their last three games, they have trailed by 6+ points at half and have come back to win, including an overtime victory the Championship game. Siena trailed by as much as 15 points in the first half. One thing is for sure, if you let this team hang around, they will come back– they are resilient.

The Starters

PG Ronald Moore
Moore leads the nation in assists, but more importantly, is the most clutch player perhaps in Siena’s history. Ronald may only be shooting 23% from three this season, but two of those three pointers have come in the closing minutes of the Saints’ past two games.

SG Clarence Jackson
Clarence is the three point specialist for Siena, but has proven that he has the ability to drive the ball to the hoop with authority.

SF Edwin Ubiles
Ubiles marks the top of Siena’s 1-2-2 press. He has great length, anticipation, and the most NBA potential on this team. Edwin appears to be finishing off his Siena career strong, shooting 47.8% from the field in his last five games. Ubiles can simply do it all.

PF Alex Franklin
Conference Player of the year, MAAC Tournament MVP, there is not much else you really need to say about Franklin, who has greatly improved his ability to put the ball on the deck and go one on one. Alex’s strength is not found anywhere else in the league, and he has proven he can match up with bigger Div. I talent.

C Ryan Rossiter
Ryan Rossiter is sometimes overlooked, but it is hard to overlook his presence coming into this game. He is 5th in the country, averaging over a double-double per game, 21 this season. Rossiter is the smartest player on this team, and fights for every rebound.

Quick Facts

• Location: Albany, NY
• Enrollment: 3,000
• 6th NCAA Tournament Appearance
• Siena has the second longest home court winning streak (38) in Division I

Catch the 2009-10 Siena Saints video highlights and more HD video at our video page.

We all know you’re looking for the story, the cinderella, well the shoe fits. Davidson was the talk of 2008– with one storied sophomore. This team has three seniors– one the nation’s assist leader, one the conference player of the year, and at least one who is heading for an exciting NBA draft day. Three great kids who are going to graduate, and three great kids who know how to put on a show. If you want a story, give this team an 11 or 12 seed and give them the shot to make a deep run. In 2006, George Mason made that run. It’s been four years, Siena wears green and gold, give these seniors the chance to make that memorable run your friends at CBS would like to see.

Selection Committee, you can help.

How much will you work this week?

To be honest with you, not very much. We’ll lift and shoot. The guys have some nicks and bruises, so we’re going to try to get them healthy. That’s the beauty of winning on Monday and not having to play for almost two weeks…Rossiter tweaked his ankle two days before the Manhattan game and we didn’t say anything about it…O.D. wasn’t himself the final two games. He desperately wanted to play and I played him, but he just was not himself. He will be by tournament time.

What’s the highest seed you could make a case for Siena ending up in the brackets?

I have no idea. I never look at that…I just know we have a good team. I’ve been impresses with the committee’s sense of fairness over the years. I just know there was a time when we got in and just watched and praying we’re not the play-in game. Nobody wants to be in the play in game. It’s unfortunate. They shouldn’t have it. I’ve said a million times that if they have it they should put the two 8th place teams from whatever conference in it. Not teams that win their way in it. That’s my opinion. So I just know we’re not going to be in the play-in game.

Comments on Edwin Ubiles’ (360) dunk against Fairfield?

Timmy Welsh has no idea what he’s talking about, and I love Timmy Welsh. He kept saying how he was upset about it. I wanted him to do it. And by the way it didn’t matter what I wanted, he was doing it anyway….It’s was either going to be a windmill, a 360, or a reverse. One of those three….Either way it was going to be a high percentage shot…It was good for him, it was good for our press, it was good for the crowd. He’s always been able to do stuff like that to get everybody fired up. I think more than anything it really gets him energized. He was phenomenal.

Ronald Moore:

How much fun is this week for you guys with no real game to prepare for?

It’s a lot to be able to relax, re-energize, and really enjoy winning the championship…Practice will be light…The buzz on campus is at its best after winning a championship, so we’re really enjoying it. Especially the younger guys, like the freshmen and the sophomores who’ve done this a second time, they’re enjoying this too. We’re all excited for Sunday to see who we’re playing.

Any particular city you hope to be playing in for the tournament?

Definitely don’t want to go too far…Somewhere closer where the fans can get to and come out and support us because those fans definitely play a major part in our success. Especially at home when they get behind us and rally behind us.

Alex Franklin:

Is it worth the risk to do a difficult dunk like Ubiles did?

I think it’s definitely worth the risk. You don’t want to miss it. I think when you’re going up there you have the confidence that you’re going to put it down. It really does a lot for the crowd and it really gets us as a team energized too. (Would he do a 360?) Nah, I’d probably just dunk it really hard.

You had some solid free throw numbers in the tournament. Was that something you concentrated on leading up to the tournament?

Yeah, the last couple of games I was struggling from the free throw line. I wanted to get in the gym, get some more shots up because I know the way I play I’m going to get fouled a lot…They (the coaches) say something to you, but it’s more of yourself involved just trying to get out there and trying to get the free throws in because I know I’m going to get to the line most of the time.