Nov. 20, 2010

Final Stats

Mitch Buonaguro's first win as Siena head coach was a memorable one. Seniors Ryan Rossiter and Clarence Jackson combined for 52 points as the Saints dropped the hammer on CAA member Northeastern Saturday in Boston, 84-68.

"That's as good a road win as we've had since we've been here, from start to finish," Buonaguro said afterwards. "That was a great road win. I thought Northeastern was a really good team. Our guys were focused, they executed the game plan, they were tough. Our effort was phenomenal. That's a great win. I couldn't be happier for the seniors, and the rest of the kids. I thought it was total domination actually."

Siena led 39-34 at the half, and never relinquished that lead in the final 20 minutes. Jackson scored eight points, including two 3-pointers during a decisive 21-2 run that put the Saints up 60-40 at the 11:27 mark. The sharp-shooting senior swingman had his second straight lights out performance, scoring 24 points on 9-13 shooting and making 3-5 3-pointers. He made 11-of-18 shots, including 5-of-8 3-pointers in Monday's narrow loss to Minnesota.

Rossiter rounded out a monster double-double with 28 points and 15 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the season and 18th in his last 21 games dating back to last season. Northeastern had no answer for his presence inside.

"First, I want to congratulate coach for his first win as Siena coach," Rossiter said. "We all worked hard for this day. I think our focus, defensively in our zone really bothered them. They have some great players who we were able to contain, and offensively today we ran the ball better than we have all year."

Buonaguro inserted freshman Rakeem Brookins into the starting lineup at point and the Saints scored the first seven points of the game under his command. He ended with four points, five assists (five turnovers) and two steals in 27 minutes.

Kyle Griffin came off the bench after starting the first two games and played well, especially during the critical run. He replaced Brookins at the 15:14 mark of the second half with Siena leading 45-38, and helped push the lead to 20 before coming out with 10:48 to go and Siena in command 60-45. Griffin scored four points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists in 18 minutes.

Siena also got big production from Davis Martens off the bench. Martens scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds in 17 active minutes. OD Anosike scored 11 points and had three rebounds in 22 minutes, but was forced to the bench in both halves due to foul trouble.

Siena shot 56% from the field and 55% from 3-point range, marking the second straight game they have made over half their shots in those categories. They out-rebounded their opponent for the first time this season, controlling a commanding 37-24 edge on the glass behind Rossiter.

Next up is national runner-up Butler before a packed house at Times Union Center Tuesday night.

"We are definitely excited," Rossiter said.