Siena heads west Thursday morning for two games in three days, Niagara on Friday and Canisius on Sunday.

The Saints have grouped these games together in the recent years and it's a good way to knock out what would be two of the longer trips if they were done separately.

Still, some of the players aren't too thrilled about the long trip.

"I dislike the distance and I dislike the snow," joked junior captain Kenny Hasbrouck before Wednesday's practice. "That's all I can say about it."

Unfortunately for Hasbrouck, rain/snow is in the forecast for Buffalo on Friday and Sunday, but what they are looking forward to is another shot at Niagara.

The Purple Eagles defeated Siena 83-79 in the MAAC championship game and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

This year, Niagara boasts a perfect conference record (4-0) and just received one vote in this week's Top 25 rankings. Charron Fisher, the nation's leading scorer is also on the Purple Eagles and will be goal No. 1 for the Saints defensively.

The game will be televised on ESPN U (channel 606 on Time Warner) and will be made ever larger by the fact that Siena sophomore Alex Franklin is expected to return to the lineup.

After suiting up for Tuesday's game against Fairfield, but telling coach Fran McCaffery he didn't feel well enough to play, he said on Wednesday, he would assume he's 85%.

"I'm excited to get back in there and contribute to the team," Franklin said. "It was really tough watching (Tuesday), especially because I had my uniform on and I wanted to go in, but I knew I couldn't."

One player the Saints will likely not have is Josh Duell. The junior had surgery on a fractured bone in his mouth on Wednesday and McCaffery said he didn't expect Duell to be in the mix for either game.

Friday should be a good one.


2007 MAAC Standings (As of 1/9)
Niagara 4-0, 10-3
Marist 3-1, 9-6
Siena 3-1, 8-6
Fairfield 3-1, 5-9
Rider 2-2, 9-6
Loyola 2-2, 6-9
Manhattan 1-3, 7-7
Iona 1-3, 5-11
Saint Peter's 1-3, 4-10
Canisius 0-4, 2-12