Siena cut it to a one possession game with :56.1 remaining, and eventually cut the deficit to 1 on a clutch Evan Hymes 27 footer inside of 30 seconds. After an intentional foul, Brandon Hall converted two free throws and then stole the ball from Evan Hymes and laid it in for the win. The Saints had two chances to corral a rebound in the final minute but both times the Peacocks came away with the basketball. Although the Saints were in a position to win late, the game truly turned when Siena converted just one point between the 9:22 and 2:57 minute marks of the second half.

O.D Anosike’s nation leading 17 game double-double streak came to an end, largely in credit to Darius Conley’s defense, as Anosike closed the night just shy with 9 points and 13 rebounds.

The Peacocks blocked 6 Siena shots on the night and were led by Conley’s 15 points and 6 rebounds. Brandon Hall, Yvon Raymond, and Lamin Fulton each added 11 points for St. Peter’s. The Saints were led by Kyle Downey’s 15 points, and Hymes’ 14 points and 6 assists. Siena frustrated St. Peter’s early in the contest– eventually leading to a John Dunne technical foul and a 9 point advantage at the break.

The Saints travel to Bridgeport, CT on Sunday afternoon to take on the Fairfield Stags.

Fans are encouraged to buy tickets early and often because last Friday Siena drew 7,906 fans for their win against Marist. Siena has won their last six home games, including an upset over preseason favorite Iona where they came back from down by 10 at halftime.

“We’d highly recommend that anyone interested in attending Friday night’s game, purchase their tickets in advance,” director of athletics John D’Argenio said. “There are many options for Capital Region basketball fans to purchase tickets and come out and see this exciting team.”

GE Kids-in-Free Days tickets can be picked up at the Times Union Center Box Office, and while children (12 and under) must be present to get them, their seats will be on the second level of the Times Union Center.

The Saints average 6,389 fans per game at the Times Union Center and are 8-3 at home this season.

Siena is 2-5 against the RPI top 100, with the two wins coming at home against Iona (53) and Princeton (99). The Saints are 6-1 against the RPI 101+ at home this season.

Siena’s current ranking in the official NCAA RPI is 183. Their average RPI win is over an average RPI of 196.

The matchup was announced today by Siena’s athletic department. Since the game will not be carried on the ESPN family of networks, the Bracketbuster was announced this afternoon prior to the TV game announcement. Hofstra is 1-10 in the CAA and 7-16 overall in their second season under Head Coach Mo Cassara.

“We’re excited to renew our rivalry with Hofstra, one of the top Mid-Major programs in the Northeast,” head coach Mitch Buonaguro said. “It’s a great game for us, and I know it’s an opponent our fans will look forward to seeing at Times Union Center.”

This will be the second time the Pride and Saints face off in a BracketBuster game, they previously faced off on February 18, 2006 when the Saints fell 76-62 at Hofstra. The last time the two played the Saints fell at home to the Pride 84-80 during the 2006-07 season. The Saints are 0-3 all time against the Pride.

Siena will have to return last year’s BracketBuster game next season at Maine, a game they won 71-60. The Saints can return their game with Hofstra either in the 2012-13 or 2013-14 season.

Anosike, who won Player of the Week, has recorded 17 straight double-doubles, tying Tim Duncan’s streak as the second longest in Division I over the last 15 seasons. His 17 points and 15 rebounds led the Saints to their upset win over Iona. Anosike’s 21 points and 12 rebounds helped lift Siena to their 10th straight win over Marist. His effort against Rider, 22 points and 16 rebounds, were both game-highs despite the Saints falling to the Broncs.

Meanwhile Poole earned his Rookie of the Week honors by scoring 14 points and tossing out six assists in Siena’s 65-62 win over Iona. Poole had 9 of his 14 over the final eight minutes, outpacing the Gaels as a team over that period. Poole bested that by scoring a season-high 15 in Siena’s win over Marist and added a 6 point, 5 assist game in the Saints loss to Rider.

Jeff Jones led the Broncs with a team-high 5 three pointers and led the Broncs with 18 points. Rider made 11 of 20 three pointers for the game while Siena’s three point production came mostly from Evan Hymes who hit 5 three pointers and had 17 points.

Junior O.D. Anosike led the Saints with a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Brandon Walters scored a season-high 15 points.

Siena shot 53.5% from two-point range but made just 8 of 28 (28.6%) three point tries. Meanwhile the Saints were able to hold Rider to 17 of 38 (44.7%) from two but Riders 11 made three’s out of 20 (55%) helped dig the Saints into a hole they could not recover from.

Siena loses on the road for the fourth straight time, unable to notch their first victory away from the Times Union Center in 2012.

Siena never trailed the Red Foxes, opening up the game scoring the game’s first 5 points and taking a 36-27 lead into halftime. Junior O.D. Anosike turned in another monster game with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Rob Poole provided much needed punch off of Siena’s bench with two three pointers and 15 points.

Siena held the Red Foxes to 22% (10 for 44) from inside the arc. Siena entered the night last in MAAC play from behind the arc but responded Friday with six three pointers from 15 attempts.

Freshman Chavaughn Lewis, who chose Marist over Siena during recruiting last year, led the Red Foxes with 21 points. Fellow freshman Evan Hymes turned in 15 points while senior Kyle Downey had a team-high 6 assists to go with 4 points.

With the win Siena reaches the .500 mark at 5-5 in the MAAC and 10-10 overall while Marist loses their sixth straight game.

The Marist community is mourning the loss of two current students and one alumnus who died in an off-campus house fire last week.  The school held a memorial service at McCann center on Wednesday.  The game that Marist was supposed to play last Sunday against Fairfield has been postponed to the end of February due to the tragedy.  Siena and Iona had a moment of silence before the game on Monday night, and there may be another before the game on Friday for Marist players, coaches and fans.

Siena will face Marist for the first time this year, which also gives them their first look at 6’5″ freshman Chavaughn Lewis, who the Saints recruited heavily last year but lost to Marist.  Lewis is the second leading scorer on the team averaging 13 points and also grabbing 4 rebounds while tallying 26 minutes a game.  He is being outpaced in the scoring column by 6’1″ junior guard Devin Price, who is scoring 14 points per game.  6’6″ junior guard Dorvell Carter is the other player averaging double digits in scoring, pitching in 12 points a game.

Marist enters the game having lost it’s last five contests but the team has shown that it can score averaging almost 70 points a game, 7 points better than the Saints.  Their defense, however is giving up almost 76 points a game.  The Saints on the other hand have become quite comfortable in head coach Mitch Buonaguro’s zone defense, holding teams to 66 points a night.

The Saint’s inside tandem of OD Anosike and Brandon Walters is going to need to continue shouldering the load in the paint – Anosike grabbed his 15th consecutive double double on Monday night scoring 17 points and corralling 15 rebounds, and although he only played 10 minutes on Monday night Walters has proven be a positive presence down low.  Walters is averaging 7 points and 7 rebounds a game, and shooting better than 50% from the field.  Marist is a good rebounding team as well so Siena will need to continue being productive on the glass, which has been one of their strengths all year.

Monday night’s win was highlighted by the senior leadership of Kyle Downey and the emergence of freshman Rob Poole.  Downey took over the game late, scoring 16 points on the night, showing resolve and poise that the team had lacked trying to close out Loyola the game before.  And Rob Poole continued to do a little bit of everything – he scored 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished six assists, and was perfect from the free throw line icing the game in the last minute.  Poole has shown that he can perform in the big games, scoring 14 points and 13 points respectively in wins over Iona and Fairfield – he’s also boasting an assist to turnover ration of 20:5 over his last four games, which is even more impressive considering that he’s doing that during regular game play and not getting minutes at the point.

Although the Saints will continue to roll with six players most of the time, 6’7″ freshman forward Marcus Hopper saw his most extended action of the season playing 10 minutes against Iona, and Evan Hymes continues to produce while trying to play with a nagging wrist injury.

The Red Foxes will make the short trip up the Thruway to meet their rivals in the face of tragic circumstances, and will no doubt come out focused and looking for a victory.  The Saints will look to try and get back to .500 on the season once again and keep crawling up the MAAC leaderboard.  The Siena faithful, showing rousing support on Monday night, will no doubt be present once again to cheer on their Saints, who are entering the most favorable part of their conference schedule over the next couple of weeks.  With the grit and determination these players show on a nightly basis the Saints are going to continue to try to gain momentum in to the twilight of the season.

Notes

• Siena has won their last 9 games against Marist, the longest stretch against any MAAC foe.
• The Saints have won their last 5 games in the friendly confines of the Times Union Center, and 6 of their last 7 (only loss in that time
  was to Fordham.)  The Saints have also shot 46% from the field and are averaging over 71 points per contest during their five game home winning streak.
• The Saints are unbeaten at home when scoring over 60 points per game.
• The Saints are second in the MAAC in field goal percentage defense at 39.8% a game.
• OD Anosike has taken over the lead in scoring on the team (14.9 ppg) and leads the country in rebounding (12.7) and double-doubles (15.)
• Siena will not face Iona or Loyola again during the regular season, and only have one game each left versus Manhattan and Fairfield.
• Siena starters are averaging 33 minutes per game, the most in the country.
• The Saints continue to lead the MAAC and is second in the country in fewest fouls committed per game (13.6.)
• Five of Siena’s nine losses have been by 7 points or less.

Siena came back after falling behind by a 20-2 margin in the first four and a half minutes to pull off a 65-62 upset over top ranked Iona at the Times Union Center on Monday night.

Iona opened the game on an 11-0 run but the Saints used a 12-0 run of their own for 5 critical minutes of the second half to give the Saints their first lead at 58-57. Kyle Downey’s three pointer gave the Saints a one-point lead then and with 51 seconds left, Downey’s jumper gave the Saints a 63-62 lead they would hold onto. The senior Downey scored 16 points while junior O.D. Anosike had a team-high 17 points and team-high 15 rebounds.

Sean Armand, who lit up the Saints with 32 points in their last meeting 20 days prior, drew a technical foul with 5:38 left in the first half and was held to 0 points in the contest. Armand’s teammate Scott Machado drew one with 1:11 left in the first half. Preseason Player of the Year Michael Glover led the Gaels with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman Rob Poole made his presence off the bench felt with 14 points, making two-three pointers and dishing out a team-high 6 assists to go with 6 rebounds after playing a season low 14 minutes on Thursday at Loyola. It looked like Poole was calling for the basketball late in the game, ice in his veins!

Siena held Iona to 3 for 16 from three point range after giving up 17 for 39 in their last meeting.