Feb. 26, 2010
Final Stats
One week before the MAAC Tournament opens on its home court, Siena served notice with its most impressive effort of the year in a lopsided 80-54 bludgeoning of Rider in Lawrenceville Friday night on ESPNU. Edwin Ubiles dazzled the NBA scouts in attendance, scoring 21 points in out-playing fellow senior draft prospect Ryan Thompson from start to finish.
The Saints shot 61% from the field in the first half and led 47-28 at the break. They opened the second half with a 7-0 run and led by no fewer than 21 the rest of the way. The lead got as big as 34, 69-35 with 12:53 left, before the high-flying Saints mercifully slowed things down.
Ryan Rossiter turned in his typical monster double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Clarence Jackson dropped 16 and Alex Franklin had 12. Ronald Moore inched closer to the program's all-time assist mark with eight helpers, and now stands just 12 shy of Marc Brown (796) on Siena's career charts.
As efficient and unselfish as Siena was on offense, its defense was that much better. The Saints swarmed the Broncs with their 1-2-2 trapping press, tallying 12 steals and scoring 22 points off turnovers while limiting Rider to 37% from the game.
The lone bright spot for Rider was the play of Novar Gadson who came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points and grab 10 rebounds.
The win marked Siena's 12th straight following a loss and the Saints are 6-0 this year following setbacks with a +22.8 margin of victory.
Siena also equaled the MAAC record for regular-season victories for the second straight season. They will go for a conference-best 17th win against last place Marist Sunday at Times Union Center. Prior to the game, Siena will recognize its sensational senior class, which graduates as the most successful in program history. But on this night, they looked like they have plenty more basketball to play.
