March 4, 2002
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By CONNOR ENNIS
Associated Press Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Siena players and coaches aren't surprised. They might be the only ones.
Dwayne Archbold scored 30 points and the Saints capped an improbable Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament run with a 92-77 win over Niagara on Monday night to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
"It don't surprise me at all, because I knew what this team was capable of," Archbold said. "It just took us a long time to get everything together, and it just came together throughout the tournament."
Archbold, the tournament's most valuable player, set a MAAC record with 111 points in four games.
"What can you say? The kid's special," Siena coach Rob Lanier said. "He's a great player and I love him."
Siena (16-18) became the first MAAC team to win the championship after participating in a play-in game as one of the league's bottom four seeds. The conference went to that format five years ago.
Only seven other teams have won four games in as many days to win a conference tournament.
"There's no better time to do it than the tournament," Archbold said. "That's when you have to bring your best effort forward and that's when you've got to play your best basketball."
The Saints struggled for much of the season as they adjusted Lanier, in his first season as a head coach. Lanier, who got his start as a graduate assistant at Niagara, is Siena's third coach in three seasons.
"It was really hard on me all year, because I felt that my learning curve was taking place at the expense of our seniors," Lanier said. "I really hate that it had to happen that way and, as the year wore on, I really hoped that (a MAAC championship) would be the thing that would salvage it. Unbelievably, it worked out that way."
The Saints took an 11-point halftime lead and didn't let the Purple Eagles (18-14) get closer than seven in the second half. Niagara's final chance to close the gap came with a little over 1{ minutes left when it caused a turnover and Tremell Darden broke out on a fast break.
Darden hesitated at the 3-point line, picked up his dribble and lost the ball, sealing the loss.
The Saints hit their free throws down the stretch and, as the buzzer sounded, the hometown crowd stormed the court in celebration.
"We let them get off to a good start and we had to play catch up," Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. "It's a home game for them and they are better on their floor."
Sinea's last NCAA appearance came in 1999, when it lost to Arkansas in the first round. Before that, Siena's last time in the tournament was 1989, when it defeated Stanford in the first round before losing to Minnesota.
Niagara's only bid to the tournament came in 1970, when Calvin Murphy was the Purple Eagles star.
Niagara joined Fairfield and Marist as teams Siena lost to twice in the regular season, but defeated in the tournament. It was the first time the Saints won the tournament in the 10 times it has been played at the Pepsi Arena.
"The worst game we played this tournament was against St. Peter's, because we were expected to win," said Lanier, referring to Siena's first round 77-66 win. "We've never handled that pressure well all year. As soon as the expectations were gone we felt we were free."
Justin Miller added 14 points for Siena and James Clinton and Andy Cavo both had 13. Daryl Greene led Niagara with 21 points.
Holding a 44-33 halftime lead, Siena built itself a cushion early in the second half. Clinton hit two quick shots and Archbold added a basket inside to give the Saints a 50-33 lead. The game was never in doubt after that.
Like he did throughout the tournament, Archbold made his presence felt early.
Archbold scored 10 of Siena's first 21 points as the Saints raced to a 21-16 lead with 9:19 to go in the half. The early lead got the crowd into the game, and both the players and Lanier seemed to feed off the energy. After Miller hit a shot inside to make the score 38-27 with just under two minutes left in the half, Lanier ripped off his sports jacket and started punching his fist in the air to get the crowd to make some noise.
