Jan. 6, 2012
Final Stats
How would Siena respond to its worst Division I conference loss ever? Funny you should ask. In a season filled with surprises, the Saints turned in their most surprising performance to date - a 73-60 demolition of MAAC contender Fairfield in front of 6,765 fans in Albany Friday night.
"(Siena) played flawless," Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said. "I don't think they could have played any better under the circumstances."
Flawless? Pretty much.
Consider: The Saints had their most efficient offensive performance in 75 games, and their stingiest defensive effort in 229!
The Saints(6-8/1-3) stumbled into Times Union Center following a 95-59 loss to upstart Iona at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night hoping to avoid equaling their worst MAAC start (0-4) in 22 seasons as a league member.
Mission accomplished.
Siena shot over 60% from the field in each half and finished 26-41 (63.4%) from the field against a Stags (8-7/3-1) team that came into the game leading the conference in points allowed, and ranking second in field goal percentage defense. It was Siena's best shooting performance since converting 30-46 (65.2%) of its field goals in the 2009-10 season-opener at Tennessee State (Nov. 13, 2009).
Meanhwhile, Fairfield made just 29% of its field goals, the lowest output for a Siena opponent since Iona converted only 12-53 (22.6%) of its shots here at Times Union Center on December 11, 2004.
Siena lit up Fairfield's defense from 3-point range, opening up the inside for OD Anosike's school-record-tying 10th straight double-double. Anosike scored all 13 of his points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. He anchored a Siena frontline that out-scored Fairfield 24-10 in the paint, and limited the Stags to just 7-40 from inside the 3-point arc.
Kyle Downey scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the first half, helping Siena to a 32-30 lead at the break. It was just the second time in 12 games Siena led after the first 20 minutes.
Fairfield made 13-29 3-pointers, including 7-11 from junior guard Desmond Wade. Wade led all players with a career-high 27 points - 12 more than his previous mark of 15. Fairfield's other four starters made just 7-41 field goals, and star seniors Derek Needham and Rakim Sanders were held to just 3-19 combined from the field.
"The zone won us the game," Siena head coach Mitch Buoanguro said. "It keeps us out of foul trouble, and a lot of the teams live by the three (against it). Sometimes, I'm willing to live with threes. Its won us a few games this year."
Freshman Rob Poole came off the bench to score 13 points on 4-5 shooting from distance, and classmate Evan Hymes made sure Siena had no issues with Fairfield's full court press, while reaching double figures for the 11th time this season.
The real bright spot may have been the performance of senior Owen Wignot. Wignot scored 12 points and made 3-4 field goals and 5-6 free throws. He added eight rebounds in what was by far his best performance of the season.
"This is the first game all six guys played really well," Buoanguro said. "It was a total team effort."
The Saints don't have much time to celebrate the victory. They will be back on the Times Union court Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to face Niagara. Fans will have the opportunity to watch the New York Giants' playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons live on the video scoreboard during the Saints' game.
