Dec. 23, 2008
Final Stats
ALBANY, N.Y. - Edwin Ubiles scored 21 points pacing four Siena double figure scorers in a 71-60 win over Buffalo Tuesday night at Times Union Center. The Saints led from start to finish to capture their ninth straight home win in their final home contest of the calendar year.
"We controlled the game from start to finish," head coach Fran McCaffery said. "I couldn't be happier with the way our kids have responded to this schedule we have put in front of them."
Seven of Siena's (6-4) first 10 opponents currently have a winning record and four teams advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament. Buffalo (5-4) arrived in Albany fresh off a 71-52 thrashing of UNC Ashville Saturday. The Bulls also have a 10-point win over Temple and a narrow four-point setback to UConn on their early season resume.
Ubiles made 8-13 field goals and Alex Franklin got on track in the second half to finish with 15 points inside. Ronald Moore had 12 points and eight assists, and Kenny Hasbrouck ended with 10.
The Saints shot 46% from the field in each half and owned a surprising 40-32 rebounding edge. Siena grabbed its first double figure lead, 23-13, with a 13-4 run that began with a Ubiles 3-pointer at the 15:07 mark of the first half. The Saints connected on their first four 3-point attempts of the game, but finished just 6-16 from distance.
The lead was 33-22 at halftime, and Buffalo got no closer than nine (on four occasions) the rest of the way.
Buffalo was led in scoring by Rodney Pierce with 15 points. Vadim Fedotov kept the Bulls in the game with 11 of his 13 points after the break and Calvin Betts had 10 points and seven rebounds. It was a big win for the Saints who were coming off a 79-66 setback at #3/3 Pittsburgh and have tough road games at St. Joseph's (Sunday) and Holy Cross (Dec. 30) on the horizon.
