Dec. 23, 2009

Box Score

Alex Franklin and Clarence Jackson each poured in 22 points as Siena bashed Rider 84-62 Wednesday night at Times Union Center in a matchup of two of the MAAC's top teams. Four players reached double figures for Siena which pushed its homecourt winning streak to 25 straight.

Siena (7-4, 2-0) dominated the first half, shooting 57.6% from the field while the Broncs (8-6, 1-1) were shutout from 3-point range (0-15).

Up nine with 4:09 to go in the opening stanza, Siena closed the half on a 9-2 run to build a commanding 16 point lead at intermission, 46-30.

Siena scored 10 of the first 13 points in the second half to push the lead to 23 and the game was not competitive the rest of the way. The Saints led by no fewer than 20 points in the final 13 minutes and led by as many as 30 in the surprisingly lopsided battle.

Not to be overlooked was the strong defensive performance, especially on MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Ryan Thompson. The Saints limited the Broncs leading scorer to just four first half points and Rider shot 36% from the field for the game. Franklin tied a season-high with his 22 points and hauled in 11 boards.

"He was a monster," Head Coach Fran McCaffery said. When pressed as to whether he has been the team's most consistent performer this year, he added: "he probably has been for the last four years."

Teammate Ryan Rossiter (12 points, 10 rebounds) also posted a double-double and Ronald Moore, who leads the nation in assists, added 12 dimes for his fourth double-digit assist effort of the season.

Sophomore transfer Kyle Griffin was solid in his first career appearance for Siena after sitting out a year per NCAA regulations. He had five points in 13 minutes of action.

Siena continues its season-long four game homestand Tuesday against St. Joseph's. Game time is set for 7 p.m.