Feb. 21, 2014

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Siena got the win its been searching all season for, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Evan Hymes scored 17 points, including the benchmark 1,000th point of his career, and Siena did just enough late to hold off MAAC Preseason favorite Manhattan 67-63 in front of 7,928 fans on #GoldRush night in Albany.

Siena (12-16, 8-9) moves into a sixth place tie with Marist and will play for a share of fifth place Sunday at Rider. The top five teams in the MAAC get a bye in the conference championships.

The Saints defeated Manhattan (20-7, 13-5) for the 10th straight time at Times Union Center, but this was the most surprising victory during that stretch. The Saints entered the game 0-6 against the top-four teams in the MAAC, including a 90-68 setback to the Jaspers in Riverdale last month. Manhattan entered the game red-hot, having won six straight games - five of which they led from start-to-finish.

"Our kids knew they had another chance to do something against a team that was picked to win the league - a team that had just won six in a row and has the (most road wins) in the country," Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said.

The Saints won by doing something they failed to do the last two times they took the court, closing out a late lead. It was far from easy.

Ryan Oliver beat the shot clock with 25-foot three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put Siena up 60-54 with 1:43 left. Manhattan trimmed the lead to just two, and after Rob Poole made 1-of-2 free throws with 19 seconds left, Shane Richards was fouled shooting a three-pointer and went to the line with a chance to tie the game.

Richards made the first, but missed the next two and Poole sunk four straight free throws to seal the outcome.

Manhattan went just 19-for-42 from the free throw line, converting just three more tries than the Saints did on 20 more opportunities. Rhamel Brown set a Times Union Center record and matched his own Manhattan record with nine blocks, but he went just 1-for-9 from the stripe.

"I think (Manhattan) has a very good chance to win the MAAC tournament," Patsos said. "They're very deep, they have a lot of size, so for us to win that game was a minor miracle. Our crowd helped us win."

Poole joined Hymes with a game-high 17 points for the Saints. George Beamon had 17 for the Jaspers, but made just 5-of-14 shots and 5-of-9 free throws.

"Rob, Ryan and Evan really took over leadership tonight," Patsos said.

Hymes had averaged just 5.1 points the last eight games, but erupted for 11 in the first half to help the Saints take a 34-30 lead to the lockerroom. He became the 39th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points when his three-pointer from the left wing touched net with 1:06 left in the half.

Manhattan out-rebounded Siena 42-36, but the Saints took much better care of the basketball than they did in Riverdale, turning it over 14 times (compared to 23). Siena used 10 steals to force 16 Manhattan turnovers.

Asked what the victory means, Patsos simply said: "It means that Sunday's game means more."

It sure does. One website gave Siena a 2.3% chance at the No. 5 seed just two days ago after running 10,000 possibilities through a computer. Now, the Saints are a victory away from sitting in that spot.