Siena Saints men's basketball

Infobox CBB Team

name = Siena Saints
university = Siena College
conference = Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
conference_short = MAAC
city = Loudonville
stateabb = New York
state = New York
coach = Fran McCaffery
tenure = 4th
arena = Times Union Center
capacity = 14,500
nickname = Saints
NCAAchampion =
NCAAfinalfour =
NCAAtourneys = 1989, 1999, 2002, 2008
conference_tournament = 1989, 1999, 2002, 2008
conference_season = 1999, 2000, 2001, 2008
color1=gold
color2=green
hex1=008000
hex2=ffd700
h_pattern_b=_unknown|h_body=|h_shorts=|h_pattern_s=
a_pattern_b=_whitesides|a_body=ffd700|a_shorts=ffd700|a_pattern_s=_whitesides
The Siena Saints men's basketball team represents Siena College in Loudonville, New York. The division one program competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Saints are currently coached by Fran McCaffery who is in his third year at the Loudonville school. Siena plays all of its home games at the 14,500 all-seater Times Union Center in downtown Albany. Since 1988, the team has appeared in four NCAA Tournaments (1989, '99, '02, and '08) and five NIT Tournaments (1988, '91, '94, '00, and '03).

History

In 1989, Siena star Marc Brown led the school to their greatest triumph an 80-78 victory over third seeded Stanford. The 1993-1994 Saints finished 25-8 making all the way to the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden defeating such teams as Georgia Tech, Tulane, Bradley, and Kansas State. Siena’s Doremus Bennerman capped his brilliant college career with a 51-point outburst against Kansas State, winning most outstanding player honors in the NIT.

Brown (2,284) and Bennerman (2,109) are the only two men to score 2,000 points or more while at Siena.

After coach Mike Deane (166-77 in 8 years at Siena) left to take the head coaching job at Marquette, Siena suffered through a terrible 22-59 three year tenure under Bob Beyer, who was fired. Siena then hired Villanova assistant Paul Hewitt to resurrect the program. Hewitt did so leading the Saints to a 66-27 record during his three years, winning the MAAC tournament championship in 1999 and taking regular season crown in 2000. Hewitt would leave after the 1999-2000 to take over at Georgia Tech.

Louis Orr coached the team for one season (20-11) before leaving for Seton Hall University. Siena then hired Rob Lanier, an assistant under Rick Barnes at University of Texas. In Lanier's first year Siena struggled through a brutal regular season going 12-18. However the team went on to win the MAAC championship on their home floor and become the first team since Bradley in 1955 to win an NCAA Tournament game with a losing record as they defeated Alcorn State 81-77 in the play in game. Siena would gain an NIT berth in 2003, going 21-11 and beating Big East member Providence along the way. They defeated Villanova and Western Michigan in the NIT before being eliminated by Alabama-Birmingham. Lanier's final two years brought much frustration among Siena fans. In 2003-2004, Siena started off 3-0 only to lose their next 10 games and finish the season a disappointing 14-16. Lanier's final year saw an injury-plagued Siena team finish with a program worst 24 losses and he was fired after that season.

McCaffery takes over

2005–2006

Fran McCaffery was hired to April 1st, 2005 as the 14th coach in Siena history, the 8th at the division 1 level. McCaffery inherited a team with only a handful of scholarship athletes because several players loyal to coach Lanier transferred to other programs, including Jack McClinton, who went on to earn first team all-ACC honors at the University of Miami.

McCaffery guided Siena to a 15-13 record despite being picked to finish last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Siena had memorable wins over cross-town rival Albany 82-74 in overtime, as well as an 82-76 triumph at eventual MAAC champion Iona. The Saints clinched a first round bye in the MAAC tournament with a thrilling 98-92 double overtime victory over Niagara on senior day. Siena's season ended with a heartbreaking 63-62 loss to St. Peter's in the MAAC quarterfinals.

2006–2007

The Saints started slowly at 11-10 before winning 9 of 10 games to reach the MAAC championship game losing to Niagara 83-79. Siena finished at 20-12, winning 20 or more games for the fifth time in nine seasons. Once again Siena defeated Albany in another instant classic game 76-75 in double overtime. Siena was one of the youngest teams in the conference as five of their top eight players were underclassmen.

Freshman Edwin Ubiles shared the Rookie of the Year award in the MAAC becoming the second player in as many years to win it for the Saints. Kenny Hasbrouck captured the honor in 2005-2006.

2007–2008

On November 17th McCaffery guided Siena to a 79-67 victory over #20 Stanford University in Albany, NY at the Times Union Center. The win was Siena's first over a ranked opponent since the 1989 NCAA tournament first round also against Stanford. Siena once again defeated Albany 75-71 for their sixth win in seven tries against the Great Danes since the series resumed. Siena dominated their Bracketbuster game against Boise State, another quality mid-major school. The Saints defeated Manhattan, Loyola, and Rider to win the MAAC Tournament and clinch a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

During Selection Sunday, the Saints received a #13 seed in the Midwest Region of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Saints went on to upset the 4th seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the tournament 83-62. The Saints were led by junior Kenny Hasbrouck who scored a team high 30 points. Senior guard Tay Fisher came off the bench to add 19 points on 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. The Saints never trailed in the contest and became the first MAAC team to advance since the 2004 tournament. [cite web| url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=284000005| title=Siena upsets Vandy, becomes first MAAC team to make second round since '04| date=2003-03-21| accessdate=2008-03-23| publisher=ESPN.com]

In the second round of the tournament, the Saints found themselves facing the #12 seed Villanova Wildcats on March 23, 2008. With 25 points from Scottie Reynolds and 20 points from Corey Stokes, the Wildcats cruised to an 84-72 victory over the Saints and Villanova advanced to the sweet sixteen. [cite web| url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=284000006| title=Reynolds, Villanova too much for Siena| date=2008-03-23| accessdate=2008-03-23| publisher=ESPN.com]

eason-by-Season Results (Division I only)

*From NCAA.org [cite web|url=http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careersearch|title=NCAA Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-19]

References

External links

* [http://www.sienasaints.com SienaSaints.com]