Jan. 7, 2006

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

Kojo Mensah led four Saints with 15 points or more, dropping 21 as Siena dismantled Rider 85-62 Saturday in front of 4,902 fans at Pepsi Arena. It was the largest margin of victory for the Saints since March 1, 2003.

Siena (7-5/2-2 MAAC) grabbed the lead for good on an Antoine Jordan 3-pointer with 11:39 remaining in the first half. Jordan finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, recording his second consecutive double-double.

As good as Siena's offense was, it was the defense that stole the show. Mensah had seven of the Saints' season-high 17 steals, the most by a Siena player since December 23, 2003. Rider shot just 35% from the field and 32% from 3-point range.

Sophomore Tay Fisher scored a career-high 20 points in the win. Freshman Kenny Hasbrouck had a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with his 15 points.

Reserve center Mousse Diop played his most effective game of the season, spelling David Ryan who was in foul trouble all afternoon. Diop held Rider's (4-7/0-3) Jason Thompson in check, limiting the Broncs leading scorer and rebounder to just 13 points and 11 boards.

"This was a tremendous effort and a great team win," head coach Fran McCaffery said. "We got contributions from everybody, which needs to happen for us to be successful."

The undersized Saints also hung with Rider on the glass, tying the Broncs with 39 rebounds. After committing 20 turnovers in Thursday's loss at Fairfield, Siena took much better care of the basketball and turned the ball over just 11 times.

"It was evident that Siena wanted the game more than we did," Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey said following the loss. "I thought they out-hustled us to almost every loose ball, beat us down the floor for some easy layups and shot us out of our zone in the first half."

Siena shot 50% from the floor in the first half and had 17 fast break points compared to just two for the Broncs. The Saints improved to 5-0 at home this season.

Siena returns to action Friday here at Pepsi Arena where they host archrival Marist in an ESPNU game at 7 p.m. At halftime, the athletic department will retire Billy Harrell's #10 jersey, marking the first jersey retirement in program history. Also, members of the 1949-50 National Catholic Invitational Championship team will be honored.