ALBANY, NY – Siena Basketball officially closed one memorable chapter Sunday afternoon while turning the page to what at first glimpse appears to be a promising new era. With a number of the 2025-26 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions in the house – many of whom were on the court split between wearing white and orange – the new-look Saints showed out in a spirited 81-76 setback against Syracuse in a premier preseason battle before 8,604 at MVP Arena.
2026 MAAC Tournament MVP
Gavin Doty – who was one of three former Siena players to suit up for Syracuse – paced the Orange with 20 points and eight rebounds. Doty, along with former Saints
Francis Folefac and
Tasman Goodrick, were amongst nine Syracuse players and staff led by former head coach Gerry McNamara who returned to the Capital Region and were honored during a pregame championship ring and banner ceremony along with current and former Siena players and staff to celebrate last season's title team.
The Saints were led by monster performances from a pair of fresh faces in their respective unofficial collegiate debuts.
Tim Ibukunoluwa posted a double-double and led all players with game-highs of 23 points on 9-14 shooting and 14 rebounds for Siena, which out-rebounded the power conference Orange by six (43-37) while holding a 40-26 advantage in the paint. Classmate
Trent Egbiremolen added 19 points on 6-9 shooting.
New head coach Nevada Smith preached an up-tempo exciting brand of basketball and the Saints did not disappoint. Siena quickly scored the first six points prompting an early Syracuse timeout, and led by as many as seven in the first half in just the second-ever meeting between the Empire State foes in Albany, and first matchup overall in 19 years.
The Saints ended the half with an equally impressive bang, as an Ibukunoluwa go-ahead putback at the buzzer provided Siena with its second straight halftime lead over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent in as many games with a 39-38 advantage at the break.
The Orange provided a strong response in opening the second half with an 18-4 run to claim as much as a 13-point advantage at 56-43 on a three from reserve Mark Morano with 13:45 remaining. Morano scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, shooting 6-9 overall including 4-6 from three.
The Saints slowly chipped away. An eight-point spurt down the stretch cut the deficit to five, and an Ibukunoluwa fastbreak layup rallied Siena all the way back within just one point at 75-74 with 1:27 remaining, as a cacophony of sound filled MVP Arena in what was the largest home crowd since the most recent revival of the Albany Cup back in 2022 (9,561).
But Syracuse sunk each of its six free throws during the final 32 seconds to hold on in a game which arguably opened many eyes across the country to what the 2026-27 Saints could be.
Division II National Champion and Gannon transfer
Pace Prosser finished with 14 points and eight assists in his unofficial Siena debut, while
Reid Ducharme returned after missing all of last season due to injury to fuel the Saints late second half comeback with all 11 of his points in the stanza.
The Orange shot 11-35 from three, while Siena connected at just a 19.4% clip (6-31) in the two-possession decision.
Siena will have two more weeks of preseason preparation before lacing them up for real when they officially tip off their 2026-27 season at Bryant on Monday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The Saints regular season home-opener is set for Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. vs Princeton in the front-end of a doubleheader with the Siena women at MVP Arena.
2026-27 Siena Men's Basketball season tickets are on sale now and can be secured through the following avenues:
Siena Fan Relations Management Center
Renewals:
sienasaints.com/accountmanager
New Season Tickets:
sienasaints.com/seasontix
By Phone: (518) 487-2235
By E-Mail:
sienatickets2@siena.edu
Additional Information:
sienasaints.com/tickets
Single game tickets – which start as low as just $10 (prior to gameday) for all regular season games at MVP Arena – can be purchased through Ticketmaster online at
sienasaints.com/mbbtickets (service fees apply) or by phone at (800) 745-3000. Fans can also secure their seats fee-free by visiting the MVP Arena Box Office
during normal business hours, or by contacting the Siena Fan Relations Management Center.
This postgame recap is proudly presented by
The Brothers that just do Gutters, a proud partner of Siena Athletics. Trust the team that always comes through – on the court and for your home.
