Sunday, January 4, 2009

Priestley gets a chance to shine

ALBANY - Siena sophomore Steven Priestley had an idea that he could be in the starting lineup when the Saints took on Saint Peter's on Sunday.

The 6-foot-5 Baldwin, N.Y. native had practiced with the green team for the past couple of days because of the sicknesses of sophomore Ryan Rossiter and senior Josh Duell.

"I had some jitters this (Sunday) morning, but I just know to stay calm, play to my strengths and away from weaknesses and I'll be fine," Priestley said.

Priestley then heard his name announced in the starting five for the first time in his Siena career.
"It's the greatest feeling," Priestley said. "Nothing's going to compare to that feeling."

Priestley followed that up by scoring the first basket, a put-back off of an Edwin Ubiles miss.

"I just tried to go out there and play because when you think about it too much then you start messing up and then you're thinking about making mistakes," Priestley said.

Priestley finished with four points, eight rebounds and one block.

"He's been getting closer," Siena coach Fran McCaffery said. "It's a longer process for certain players when they come in to where they can contribute like that. He just has stayed after it."

"Steve's been playing against four of the best players in our league for two years now," Duell said. "Every day in practice he plays hard, he comes with intensity and energy and I can't say enough about his performance (today)."

Although Duell suited up, he didn't look very comfortable on the bench and McCaffery said his senior co-captain was hooked up to an intravenous before the game so he could play if needed.

"I think if I needed to, I could have mustered some strength to get out there," said Duell following the game.

Duell and Rossiter, who didn't even make it to the bench, are both fighting through a stomach bug, which has gone around almost every player on the team.

"I had it at Holy Cross," junior Alex Franklin said. "I didn't get it as bad as they (Rossiter and Duell) got it, I had the mini-bug. It's hard to deal to with, I played through it, but I'm glad it's out of my system now."

McCaffery said the only four players who haven't gotten it are Kenny Hasbrouck, Kyle Downey, Ronald Moore and Ubiles.

"I try not to think about it," said Ubiles, when asked if he thought he could be next. "Cory (Magee) asked me about that today. I just try to stay healthy, keep lots of fluids in me and hopefully I don't catch it."

McCaffery said he thought that both Rossiter and Duell should be able to play at Kansas, but it was too early to tell for sure.

Meanwhile, the Saints continue to show that they are pretty deep despite having a very talented starting five.

"That just shows how deep we are and the tremendous athletes and talent on this team," Priestley said.

While he was a little anxious, Priestley just wanted to make sure he was ready going into the game.

"One thing I wanted to do was not go in the game with jitters," Priestley said. "I tried to relax myself before the game, just make sure I was relaxed and calm, so I could remember what coach told me and stick to the gameplan."

His teammates were also plenty happy for him.

"Steve did a great job today," Duell said. "He's really ready for this opportunity and he played great. He did what he had to do."

Priestley was happy with how he played and is just hoping to continue to do whatever is needed of him.

"I just want to go back and get another one," said Priestley of Sunday's win. "Whatever I can do for us as a team to help us get us back to where we were last year and produce more is what I want to do."

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