ST. BONAVENTURE, NY – Siena Basketball looks to retain the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup when the Saints battle sister school St. Bonaventure Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
 
Siena (2-7, 1-1) heads into this year's rivalry game looking to bounce back from consecutive setbacks. The Saints fell to Bryant 67-51 Wednesday night at MVP Arena despite double-doubles from both Giovanni Emejuru and Michael Evbagharu. With their performances, the duo now both rank in the top-10 in the MAAC in rebounding.
 
St. Bonaventure (6-2) enters play winners of four straight, the past three of which have come by 25 or more points. The Bonnies are playing their third MAAC opponent already, having suffered one of their two defeats to date vs. Canisius 70-67 on Nov. 11, while routing Niagara 94-60 on Wednesday at the Gallagher Center. St. Bonaventure is one of just four Division I teams with four or more active 1,000-point scorers on its roster.
 
The sister schools are set to meet for the 13th time since the Franciscan Cup trophy was devised by the schools' Presidents to commemorate the annual renewal of the rivalry. The trophy was renamed the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup in 2019 in honor of the late Siena College President and St. Bonaventure alumnus. St. Bonaventure holds a 7-5 edge through the first 13 official Franciscan Cups.
 
The home team has won four straight and six of the past seven Franciscan Cups following the Saints 76-70 triumph last Dec. 19 in Albany. Siena will now look to retain the Cup in back-to-back years for the first time since winning three straight in the series from 2013-15.
 
The sister schools meet for the 44^th time overall, with St. Bonaventure holding a 32-11 all-time advantage. The Saints have won just once (2014) in 23 all-time trips to Western New York, where they've dropped the past two meetings by an average of 35 points.
 
Brendan McDaniels and Jonny Walker have the call of the game on ESPN+, which can be viewed by clicking the corresponding link. "The Voice of the Saints" Emmanuel Berbari and former Saint Conner Fenlon '12 will have the radio call of the game locally in the Capital Region on JAMZ 96.3 FM, with pregame coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m.