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 »

Our Cut: The 2010 Siena Saints

2009: Siena – Oh. State

2009: One Shining Moment

2008: Siena – Vandy

Gus Johnson makes an inhumane sound

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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.

Whoever the Saints are matched up with, they will be looking to match (or improve upon?) last year’s success.

Look, if you’re a Siena fan sitting here two days before the official start of practice, be excited, be proud, be full of anticipation.
But be reasonable, too.
- Pete Iorizzo

Pete is totally right, be reasonable. I mean, do we really think Siena is one of the Top 25 teams in the country? Even if Fran McCaffery says so? I put that up to you, the reader. This past Sunday, I put up a poll on our site asking our readers to rank Siena. As of Tuesday night, the majority of the people who voted in the poll think we are a top 30 team. Really? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If there is one thing I know from experience, it’s that setting high expectations almost always leads to a let down. Think about your senior prom, or the 2000 New Years. How about the 2008 New York Mets? Everyone expected the Mets and their 138 million dollar payroll to dominate the NL East, but they were really just a .500 club that had a good winning streak before the All Star break. Low expectations is what made the Giants 2007 Superbowl run so great! They were 0-2, trailing Washington 17-3 at halftime of the Monday Night Game in Week 3. Did anyone even think the word Superbowl? How about Siena last year, we were just thrilled to be in the dance.  If we beat Vandy, that would be a bonus– and it turned out to be the biggest upset for a #13 seed in 23 years, and our lower expectations made it sweeter.  I can assure you that if UNC does not win the National Title this year, every Tar Heel will consider this season a failure.

So to all the people saying Siena should be ranked #25, to the people who consider our season a failure if we don’t reach the Sweet 16– slow down and relax. There is no down side to lowering your expectations a bit.