Jan. 27, 2012
Final Stats
OD Anosike pushed his double-double streak to 16 straight games, and Siena never trailed in posting its 10th straight win over archrival Marist, 66-55, in front of 7,906 fans at Times Union Center Friday night. The Saints, now 10-10 overall and 5-5 in MAAC play, have now won six straight home games.
Anosike ended with 21 points and 12 rebounds. His streak now ties for the third longest in Division I since 1996-97. Fairfield's Darren Phillip posted the longest streak over that stretch, ending the 1999-2000 season with 19 consecutive double-doubles.
Siena held Marist to just 28% from the floor, and the Red Foxes misfired on 15 of their first 16 shots, and nine of their last 10. Take those runs of futility away and Marist shot 15-34. It was the stingiest defensive effort of the year for the Saints, and the team improved to 10-2 when scoring at least 60 points.
"The defense won us this game," Siena head coach Mitch Buonaguro said. "That team can score - they're averaging 70 points a game - to hold them to 55 is a tremendous accomplishment."
The Saints got off to an uncharacteristic fast start, leading 12-2 and 17-5. The lead was 36-27 at halftime, but could have been much larger. Siena made 56% of its field goals before intermission, while Marist made just 27%.
The Red Foxes got as close as two, trailing 47-45 after a Lewis layup with 8:35 to play, and again 49-47 after an Adam Kemp dunk less a minute later. Siena seized the momentum back, running off five unanswered on an Anosike layup and a spectacular coast-to-coast three-point play by freshman Evan Hymes. Marist got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Hymes and classmate Rob Poole contributed 15 points to the win. It marked the second straight game Poole has established a career-high in scoring. Owen Wignot made 3-4 shots and finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Lewis equaled Anosike's game-high with 21 points off the bench for Marist. Freshman T.J. Curry joined Devin Price with 11 in defeat.
Siena's 10-game win streak over Marist is the longest run in the rivalry since the Saints won 12 straight from 1970-83.
Siena returns to action at Rider Sunday. The short-handed Saints are just 2-4 on one day's rest this season.
