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 »

Franklin is by far the most fouled person on the team with 225 attempts so far this season, which is already a career high for the senior. His 66.2% from the line is the best free throw numbers he’s put up since his freshman year. However, it’s his stellar performance during the MAAC tournament (when it really matters) that demonstrates how much emphasis Franklin is placing on connecting from the line.

Against Manhattan he went a solid 9-14 (64.2%), but went an amazing 12-13 (92.3%) in the semifinal game against Rider. These percentages are massively higher than his shooting from last year’s tournament when the largest number of free throws he made in a game was 2 against Niagara.

With Siena struggling out of the gate in both of their recent games, it has been Franklin and his free throws that have kept the team within striking distance. His 7 first half points from line against Manhattan helped contain the Jaspers early momentum.

With the number of times Franklin normally goes to the foul line, combined with his much improved shooting makes Franklin a more dangerous threat. His aggressive offensive style not only gets opponents into foul trouble, but now consistently results in points. If he is able to continue this trend, it will be very difficult for anyone to beat the Saints tomorrow in the championship game.

Siena Press Conference 3/6: Fran McCaffery refuses to answer a reporter’s question. Rather than take the high road, the reporter lashed out in his column on the game.

When the buzzer sounded Manhattan coach Barry Rhorrsen and his Jaspers stood ready, only problem was Fran McCaffery’s Saints weren’t coming to shake their hands.

The Siena coach ordered his players back into the locker room after Siena’s 78-61 win over the Jaspers Saturday night. McCaffery was so insistent that when he found Kyle Downey still sitting at the end of the bench he told him leave the sideline immediately.

In the post game press conference Coach McCaffery claimed it was to protect against any form of altercation between the two team’s players, but refused to go into greater detail.

“The reason why i sent my starters to the locker room was to avoid any possible incident that would affect their safety,” McCaffery said. “That’s my number one concern, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

The potential incident McCaffery was hoping to avoid stemmed from a growing tension amongst the players. Throughout the game Manhattan’s Rico Pickett was making gestures toward the Siena bench and was jabbing with the starters during breaks in the action. Ryan Rossiter was clearly frustrated by constantly getting tangled up with the Jaspers’ big men.

However, what drew the most attention was a hard foul against O.D. Anosike in the second half where after he fell to the ground, guard Darryl Crawford stepped back on his knee. The starters had to be escorted to their benches and Anosike didn’t return to action. While McCaffery said later he didn’t think the injury was too severe, it did not stop the 8,914 fans at the Siena-heavy Times Union Center from booing Crawford every time he touched the ball.

When asked if the physical play and trash talk had an effect on the team, Owen Wignot said that the best response is success on the court.

“When you really start rolling you can kind of just put it to the side,” Wignot said.

Alex Franklin said that he wasn’t surprised at his coach’s decision.

“Coach is just looking out for our safety,” Franklin said.

Dirty play has been a concern for McCaffery all season and it is an issue he has addressed on more than one occasion this year. Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time McCaffery has sent his players into the locker room early. McCaffery did the same thing last year during Siena’s 83-71 win over non-conference team Holy Cross when the game grew chippy.

The Saints went on a 15-1 run in the middle of the second half to take what was a close game and turn it into a solid win. Ryan Rossiter struggled but made all six of his free throws to finish with his third straight double-double.

The Saints appeared to start in a shooting drought that rivaled their second half in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Siena made just one of their first 13 shots, missing their first four and turning the ball over five times in that span.

Manhattan’s strategy of backing off of Siena’s big men and bottling up the inside appeared to stifle the Saints early. The Jaspers then used zones to push the game to behind the arc. The Jaspers also let Moore go unguarded to help inside and finished the half up four.

Player of the Year Alex Franklin missed the first two shots for the Saints but scored Siena’s first four points while every other Saint starter struggled to score. Darryl Crawford started out strong, scoring 10 points early before drawing two fouls.

Clarence Jackson’s three pointer with 15:26 left gave Siena their first lead at 46-45. Alex Franklin’s spin move with 13:27 to go gave the Saints a 50-49 lead. Franklin led the Saints with 21 points.

Jackson struggled, making just 2-15 shots and going 2-11 from three point range.

Coach Fran McCaffery turned to his bench for scoring and got contributions early from O.D. Anosike, Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot. Wignot made Siena’s first two three pointers. Anosike left the game with an apparent injury with 16:39 to go after getting into an altercation on the court. Downey scored 8 points off the bench for the Saints who led Manhattan in bench points 22-16.

Manhattan was lead by the conference’s leading scorer Rico Pickett who put up a dominating 33 points. Darryl Crawford contributed a double-double performance with 16 points and 10 rebounds. A huge factor in this game was Manhattan’s impressive free throw numbers, going 38-46 (82.6%).

Loyola ends their season despite shooting 50% from the field. Shane Walker led the Greyhounds with 26 points. Jamal Barney also had 13 points.

Canisius is led by G Frank Turner who is 2nd in the MAAC in scoring with 16.9 ppg. Turner is also among the top three in the conference for assists, averaging over 5 per game. His counterpart, G Julius Coles also contributes on the offensive end with 15 ppg.

Since the Golden Griffins last played Siena back on January 11th, they have gone 4-5. During that stretch Canisius went into overtime 3 times beating Manhattan and Niagara and falling to St. Peter’s College. Their record places them in the middle of the MAAC standings along with Rider and Niagara. They have been given James Madison University for their BracketBusters opponent.

As a team Canisius is 2nd in the MAAC in rebounding with 38.8 per game. However, they average more than 10 points less per game compared to Siena, and they are last in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (30.1%). This will be a big mental test to see if Siena can leave their loss to Niagara in the past and not fall victim to what would be their first back-to-back loss of the season.

Manhattan was held without a point for a full five minutes in the first half. Kyle Griffin came off the bench to score a season high 12 points with four 3-pointers to lead the Saints to a seven point lead heading into halftime. Griffin’s 3’s turned out to be the only ones for the team for the remainder of the game.

For the majority of the second half Siena’s lead hovered around six to seven points. Alex Franklin also had a season high in points with 27, to go along with his 10 rebounds. Ryan Rossiter added 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Saints’ front court seemed to score at will. Edwin Ubiles was unable to play due to nagging injuries to his back and shoulder. Owen Wignot also left late in the game because of what appeared to be a head injury. Siena connected on 20 free throws, with the last four coming in the final seconds to seal the win.

Rico Pickett led Manhattan with 20 points, but no other player finished in double figures. With 5:27 left the Jaspers went on a 9-1 run to pull within three points. However, Manhattan’s well documented struggles in tight games plagued them again as they could only come up with one point in the final 1:35. This is the team’s fourth straight loss.

Siena comes off their most contested MAAC win with a six point victory over Loyola. Both teams were forced to play without key players due to injuries, and it was reflected in the score as the Saints scored below the 70 point margin for just the second time in MAAC play.

In their previous meeting with Manhattan the Saints won by 15 at home. Alex Franklin led Siena with 23 points, and Kyle Downey put up career numbers with 16 points the day before breaking his foot. Manhattan’s Rico Pickett led all scorers with 26 points, but didn’t receive much help from teammates.

Since last playing Siena last Monday, Manhattan suffered a 56-53 point loss to Iona. Rico Pickett scored 22 points for the Jaspers and Darryl Crawford contributed 17 points. However, as a team Manhattan struggled to find offense, and only shot 32.8% from the field. That loss to Iona was their fourth straight, and the seventh loss within the team’s past eight games.

Siena came through without Edwin Ubiles (VIDEO) thanks to help from Kyle Downey’s (VIDEO) career-high 16 points. Alex Franklin (VIDEO) led the way with 23 points for the Saints who have won nine straight. Fran McCaffery (Postgame press conference VIDEO) got his 100th win as Siena Saints Head Coach. Make sure to visit SienaSaintsBlog’s YouTube channel and here where we will have more exclusive content!

Monday 1/18/2010 Manhattan at Siena

Preview: Siena vs. Manhattan
Top Play: Alex Franklin Jams in Transtion (VIDEO)
Recap: Siena 83, Manhattan 68
Siena Saints Postgame: Ronald Moore 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Edwin Ubiles 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Kyle Downey 1/18 (VIDEO)
Siena Saints Postgame: Fran McCaffery Press Conference 1/18 (VIDEO)]]> http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/19/2891/monday-coverage-wrap-siena-83-manhattan-68/feed/ 0 http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/18/2856/recap-siena-83-manhattan-68/ http://sienasaintsblog.com/2010/01/18/2856/recap-siena-83-manhattan-68/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:06:35 +0000 Tim http://sienasaintsblog.com/?p=2856 The Siena Saints (15-4, 8-0) defeat the Manhattan Jaspers (7-11, 2-6) 83-68, defending their home turf for the 31st straight time. This 9th straight win is the longest for Siena under Fran McCaffery’s tenure, and it is the head coach’s 100th win with the program.

With Edwin Ubiles held out of the lineup due to back spasms, the Saints found themselves down by four points halfway through the first half. The Siena offense soon woke up, however, going on a 10-0 run starting at the 7:41 mark. The run was highlighted by 3-pointers by Kyle Downey and two 3’s from Clarence Jackson. The teams went into the half with Siena taking an 8 point lead, 39-31.

Alex Franklin (VIDEO) scored the first five points for the Saints to lead off the second half, adding to his dominant performance of 23 points. In typical Saints fashion, the offensive statistics were balanced. Ryan Rossiter contributed yet another double-digit effort with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Siena also had dual perimeter offensive weapons tonight as Jackson scored 15 points, and Downey put up a career high 16 points. Ronald Moore maintained his season assist average with 8 dishes.

Photo: Norbert Kosinski

Manhattan was never able to recover from their 8 point halftime deficit. For a short while they were able to stay within 8 to 13 points, before the game extended into a 20+ lead for Siena as the game was winding down. The Jaspers committed two intentional fouls on Saints players going to the basket. In the first half, Brandon Adams shoved Rossiter before he could connect on a layup. With 8:53 left in the game, Laurence Jolicoeur fouled Jackson hard as the junior went airborne. Rico Pickett, the MAAC’s current leading scorer showed why he has earned that mark with a 26 point game. Antoine Pearson also scored 10 points for Manhattan.