Saturday, November 22, 2008

Downey stepping up

Siena freshman Kyle Downey has done everything so far to please his teammates and coaches.

On Saturday, he was key in starting Siena's 15-1 run that put the game out of reach.

Downey knocked down a Kenny Hasbrouck-like floater then called for and knocked down a big 3-pointer to increase the lead to 12.

"Kyle's in the gym two times more than I am," Hasbrouck said. "He's in the gym day and night and we expect him to play like that."

The freshman finished with seven points and two assists in 19 minutes.

"I would have been surprised if he didn't do that, the way he's played," Siena coach Fran McCaffery said.

To his credit, Downey has down-played everything so far this season, the media attention, the shots made, just about everything.

"We were in the flow and I just had hit the shot before and I was open and he got it to me," said Downey of his big 3-pointers.

Downey said it was "cool" hitting a big three in front of the home crowd.

"They were getting a little louder because we hit a few baskets," Downey said. "It was cool."

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Give Cornell coach Steve Donohue credit.

Asked about playing without preseason Player of the Year Louis Dale, this is what Donohue had to say.

"I hate when I watch other coaches, to be honest with you, talk about injuries," Donohue said. "Everybody has injuries, everybody has injuries. Siena beat us. They are a much better basketball team than us."

Donohue also gave a shot to MAAC rival Loyola, albeit a small and unintended one, when talking about the easy shots that his team missed.

"We did it the last game and got away with it, against Loyola, not nearly the basketball team Siena is," Donohue said. "It cost us tonight."
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Sophomore Ryan Rossiter posted his first career double-double by scoring 10 points and 15 rebounds.

He looked impressive going up against 7-foot center Jeff Foote.

"You look at what he's doing and he's an all-league player the way he's playing right now," McCaffery said. "I thought that this summer, but you don't want to get too excited with what a guy does in Italy."

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