Jan. 17, 2009

Final Stats

Bridgeport, Conn. - Siena delivered the knockout blow shortly after the opening tip, racing to a 22-4 lead and never trailed in a 78-62 rout of Fairfield Saturday in Bridgeport. The balanced Saints dominated every facet of the game and improved to 8-0 in MAAC play, equaling the best start for any team (Manhattan 2003-04) since the conference expanded to 10 teams in 1997.

Edwin Ubiles made all seven of his field goal tries, finishing with a team high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Kenny Hasbrouck and Alex Franklin each finished with 14 points and Clarence Jackson came off the bench to score 13.

Hasbrouck had four of his Siena season-high six steals in the first half and scored 12 point after intermission. Ryan Rossiter narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.

Jonathan Han scored 17 of his game-high 20 points after the break for Fairfield. Greg Nero had 12 of his 14 points in the second half.

The Stags briefly cut the Saints 33-17 halftime lead to four, 39-35, with a 14-4 run shortly after the start of the second half. But Hasbrouck hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 Saints run and after a Warren Edney jumper cut the lead to 47-36, Hasbrouck hit another three and the Saints led by double figures for the final 12:49.

Siena shot 67% from the field in the second half and a season-high 58% from the floor for the game. The Stags hit just 24% of their attempts in the first half before finding their offensive rhythm to end up shooting 42% for the game.

The smaller Saints controlled a decisive 33-23 rebounding advantage and made 8-16 3-pointers.

Jackson hit three key 3-pointers in the second half to keep the Saints comfortably in front.

The Saints have won 12 of 14 games since losing three straight at the Old Spice Classic at the end of November. The only losses came at #1/1 Pittsburgh and Kansas. Siena has also now won 13 straight games against MAAC schools and 28 of its last 34 league contests. The Saints have been especially impressive away from home, winning 11 of their last 13 MAAC road games.

Saturday's victory capped off a nine game, 21-day stretch that spanned seven cities. The Saints finished 8-1 over the span despite playing six of the games on the road.

Siena will have a well deserved one week break before hosting Niagara at Times Union Center January 24 at noon on MSG.