Feb. 24, 2012
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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. - The scenario is a simple. A win tonight and the Saints clinch no worse than the No. 5 seed and more importantly avoid having to play in the First Round of next weekend's MAAC Championships. Siena opens the final weekend of regular season action tonight at the Gallagher Center when the Saints host upstart Niagara. Complete Gameday Central Coverage begins right here on SienaSaints.com at 7 p.m.
After sweeping its final homestand of the season last weekend, Siena (10-15, 8-8) now controls its own destiny. The Saints are currently a game clear of Niagara (10-18, 7-9) for fifth and two ahead in the loss column of both Iona and Canisius with two games remaining. The Saints close out their annual Western New York road trip Sunday against the Golden Griffins.
With some help this weekend, the Saints still have an outside chance of finishing as high as third - an impressive achievement for a team that started out 2-5 in conference play. With wins tonight over Niagara and Sunday at Canisius coupled with both Manhattan and Loyola losing both of their games this weekend, Siena would be the No. 3 seed. The Jaspers are joining the Saints this weekend in Western New York, while the Greyhounds close with the MAAC's top two teams Marist and Fairfield.
But for tonight the focus is squarely on Niagara. A win gives the Saints the season-series sweep over the Purple Eagles and most importantly locks the Saints into a top-5 finish.
Siena has won nine of the past 10 meetings over Niagara, but things are never easy on Monteagle Ridge. While the Saints did enjoy an historic 40-point win at the Gallagher Center last season, Niagara has won six of the last nine meetings here. Two of those games have been decided in overtime and six have been decided by five points or less.
After a 1-29 season a year ago which included a winless conference ledger, the Purple Eagles' youth has brought them into contention. Six of the Purple Eagles' top seven scorers are underclassmen and they have led the program back to prominence.
Mike Demos and Steve Amedio have the call beginning with pregame coverage on WVCR 88.3 FM "The Saint" at 6:30 p.m. Fans can also tune into the free audio broadcast online at SienaAllAccess.com and watch the game through Niagara's multimedia platform.
Fans can also follow along with the live stats, receive in-game twitter updates @SienaSaints and learn more about both teams by reading the game notes all by visiting the Gameday Central page.
