ALBANY, NY – Siena Basketball begins a pivotal weekend homestand against its Western New York rivals when the Saints host Niagara Friday at 7 p.m. at MVP Arena.
 
Tickets start at just $17 on gameday (service fees apply if purchasing through Ticketmaster) and can be secured by clicking the corresponding link, in-person at the MVP Arena Box Office, or by contacting Ticketmaster by phone at (800) 745-3000. The Siena Fan Relations Management Center is on-hand to handle all ticket-related inquiries, and can be reached by phone at (518) 487-2202 or by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu. For all Siena Basketball ticket-related information, log onto sienasaints.com/tickets.
 
Siena (12-14, 7-8) seeks to get back in the win column at home where they had won four straight before suffering a heartbreaking one-point loss to Marist last Friday. The Saints are 5-2 at home in league play – with both setbacks coming by a single point – while averaging 82.3 points.
 
Siena enters the weekend in eighth place in the MAAC Standings. The Saints are just a game and a half out of fourth – but only two games clear of 11^th – with five regular season games remaining. The top-10 finishers will qualify for next month's MAAC Championships, with the top-six earning Opening Round byes.
 
Niagara (10-15, 5-9) enters an equally pivotal road weekend as the Purple Eagles currently hold the 10^th and final MAAC Tournament spot, just a half-game clear of 11^th place Fairfield and only one game ahead of 12^th place Saint Peter's. Niagara has had its fair share of close calls of late, with three of their last seven games decided by one point plus a fourth in overtime.
 
The first meeting between the teams this season was also a one-point affair – one of three one-point league losses for the Saints – in a Purple Eagles 69-68 decision in the MAAC opener Dec. 6 on Monteagle Ridge. Jaedan Marshall made the winning free throw with 8.9 seconds to go, while Siena misfired on both the potential game-winning and tying free throws with seven-tenths of a second left.
 
The programs meet for the 115^th time in a series which the Saints hold a 59-55 edge. Niagara has won five of the past six meetings, albeit by an average of just 3.6 points. Ten of the last 11 matchups have been decided by seven points or fewer.
 
Robert Lee, former Saint Conner Fenlon '12, and Steve Jones have the call of the game locally in the Capital Region on My4 Albany as well as on ESPN+, which can be viewed by clicking the corresponding link. Kelly O'Donnell and former Saint Andy Grazulis '92 will have the radio call of the game locally in the Capital Region on JAMZ 96.3 FM, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Social media updates will be provided courtside throughout the day by following the Saints' official X (formerly Twitter) page @SienaMBB. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #MarchOn. Upload pictures of yourself and your friends enjoying the game through the Selfiefinder platform by clicking the corresponding link at the top of the page, or by downloading the Selfiefinder app and searching "Siena." The best selfies from the game will be displayed on the video scoreboard during the second half.