Jeff Couch/The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Owen Wignot was back on the practice floor on Wednesday.

The Siena senior forward hadn't even really ran, since suffering a head injury, in the season-opener against Navy.

Wignot (right) said he is really just suffering from some slight inner ear discomfort and that he's been out, primarily for precautionary reasons.

“I just have to be patient and hopefully that’s for the better,” Wignot said.

The Saints would like to have him back, as the open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, against Saint Peter's on Thursday, but Saturday's home game against Loyola (Md.), is more likely.

"It's day-to-day, but I think he's almost ready," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

Mike McMahon/The Record

Wignot says he's been speaking with Cory Magee (left), about the head injuries.

“He’s been helping me out,” Wignot said.

Magee had his career cut short, after taking an elbow to the head in practice and never fully recovering.

While Magee had a concussion and Wignot does not, there is some similarities, especially with the equilibrium issues in the inner ear.

 “I’m just happy he’s there for me,” Wignot said. “He’s being a good friend."

J.S. Carras/The Record

LOUDONVILLE — The Siena men’s basketball team has another former player playing professional basketball.

Clarence Jackson has decided to bring his talented overseas, signing a contract to play in Ukraine.

Jackson made his decision public on Facebook, writing, “Ukraine it is. Making my professional start and excited about the opportunity.”

Jackson joins plenty of former Saints teammates, also playing pros overseas.

Ryan Rossiter (France), Ronald Moore (Poland), Kenny Hasbourck (Spain) and Alex Franklin (France) have all turned their basketball talent into a profession.

Another former Siena player is currently in the National Basketball Developmental League. Edwin Ubiles, another former teammate of Jackson’s was chosen in the most recent draft and currently is with the Dakota Wizards.

Jackson is the 27th all-time leading scorer at Siena, scoring 1,164 points in his career, while helping the Saints win three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and two games in the NCAA tournament.

Jackson will be playing for the SK Dnipro Azot, of the Ukrainian Superleague.

AP

The University at Maryland-Baltimore County released a statement today saying that senior Chris De La Rosa is leaving the team, due to personal and family-related matters.

This is a big loss for the Retrievers, who were picked to finish seventh in the America East preseason poll.

De La Rosa was a preseason all-conference selection and last year, was a second team America East player.

"Obviously, we were disappointed to learn of Chris' decision, but understand the personal reasons behind it," UMBC coach Randy Monroe, said in a statement. "I felt he was a Player of the Year candidate in our league this year. We will miss him and wish him nothing but the best."

Back in 2007-08, De La Rosa played at Siena, on a team that finished 23-11 and reached the NCAA tournament, under coach Fran McCaffery.

De La Rosa played in both NCAA games, against Vanderbilt and Villanova, scoring five points in the second round loss to the Wildcats.

First off, here is a link to the game story - Heartbreaking loss for Danes in FCS playoffs

Here is the final play of the game, as Dan Di Lella's pass is intercepted in the end zone by Dominick Reyes.

UAlbany senior defensive end Eddie Delaney talks about the game.


UAlbany coach Bob Ford talks about the game.

STONY BROOK - What an incredibly good game, but a tough play that ended it for the University at Albany.

The Seawolves scored the last 21 points of the game, to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs.

Stony Brook (9-3) will face Sam Houston State (11-0) next weekend.

UAlbany (8-4) had a 28-10 lead, but let the game slip away, something they'll probably never forget.

Dan Di Lella who set program-records for passing touchdowns (25) and yards (2,548), threw an interception with less than a minutes to play, in the end zone.

“That last play was not the right decision and it cost us the game,” he said.

 
The Great Danes should feel good about the season, but it's certainly a tough way to bow out.  

UAlbany coach Bob Ford coached the second half with a torn MCL, after being involved in a collision with receiver Ryan Kirchner, on the sideline.

“I think I can put it into perspective,” Ford said. “We had a great, great season.”

STONY BROOK - The University at Albany football team is playing very well right now.

A late, long touchdown pass from Dan Di Lella to Cole King has the Great Danes out in front by a score of 21-10 over Stony Brook.

UAlbany has done a good job of slowing down the explosive rushing attack. Brock Jackolski has 70 yards for the Seawolves, while Miguel Maysonet added 49 yards on the ground. Stony Brook has 107 yards on the ground, way less than its season average of 287 per game.

The Seawolves also have the top ranked offense in the country, averaging 39.6 points per game. 

The Great Danes also blocked a punt and Brian Parker returned it for a touchdown.

Drew Smith also has a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the game.

Siena Athletics

The Siena men's basketball team hasn't looked for any excuses when talking about depth or injuries, so far this season.

The schedule hasn't been kind to the Saints, as of late. Coming off a loss at Georgia Tech, Siena turns around to take on a tough Vermont team, this afternoon at Patrick Gym.

This certainly is a more winnable game than playing against an ACC team, but still without Trenity Burdine (foot) and Owen Wignot's status in double, due to a head injury suffered on opening night, the Saints don't have much depth.

Siena got off to a 2-0 start and then played a very good game against St. Bonaventure, which seemed to encourage the fan base.

Following two setbacks, it will be interesting to see how this young, inexperienced Saints team responds, in what normally is a very tough place to play.

It is encouraging that O.D. Anosike seemed to get on track, down at Georgia Tech. Siena will need a big game from him, if they have any chance of winning today.

I'm expecting a very good crowd this afternoon at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, down on Long Island.

It will be the first Football Championship Subdivision postseason game for both Stony Brook at the University at Albany.

On top of it being a SUNY school rivalry, the two teams used to play together in the Northeast Conference. In addition, Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore is a UAlbany alum and got his start in coaching, with Bob Ford and the Great Danes.

Here are some links from Saturday's edition of the paper. 

UAlbany. vs Stony Brook game capsule 

Student Chuck Priore and his teach Bob Ford will match wits in NCAA playoffs

UAlbany, Stony Brook have traveled different paths to reach playoffs

Courtesy UAlbany Athletics

ALBANY - Peter Hooley wasn't suited up for the home-opener on Friday afternoon, instead he sat on the bench, in a shirt and tie.

Hooley has been dealing with a foot injury and it was decided that he will take a medical redshirt this year because of a stress fracture in the left foot.


"He's going to be out, which hurts us because he's a pretty good player," said University at Albany coach Will Brown.

Hooley started feeling the pain, in preseason, before the Purple/Gold scrimmage, but fought through it.

Before the George Mason game, he came to Coach Brown and said it was too painful.

"He started not making shots in practice, not playing well, limping," Brown said.

An MRI revealed the stress fracture and it looks like next week, he'll have to screws put into the foot.

Brown said that freshman Tanner Gibson, who was going to be redshirted, will likely see more minutes now with Hooley out. 

Gibson played his first minutes of the year on Friday, getting in 10 minutes against Navy.

"I thought he was very poised today, but I need him to be more aggressive," Brown said.

Brown thinks that Gibson will be able to help out the team.

"He might be as good of an athlete that we have," Brown said;.

Brown also said that freshman Chris Page will redshirt. Page has been one of the better shooters in practice. 

"I don't want to burn a year, if he's not going to play," Brown said.

Earlier in the year, Brown said he didn't necessarily want to redshirt players because the Great Danes currently don't have any seniors.With that fact, if a player is seeing limited action this season, they would likely see the same amount of time next year.

ALBANY - The University at Albany rode its four-headed scoring machine to the finish line on Friday afternoon.

It wasn't easy in the end, but the Great Danes (3-3) did enough. 

Gerardo Suero, Logan Aronhalt, Mike Black and Luke Devlin combined for 67 of the team's 69 points.

Navy made it interesting, going on a 21-5 run late in the second half, but UAlbany made its free throws down the stretch.

Suero led the way with 21 points, while Aronhalt scored 18 and Black chipped in 16. Both Aronhalt and Black knocked down four 3-pointers and the Great Danes finished with 10 on the afternoon.

Luke Devlin played his best game of the season, scoring 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

Blake Metcalf grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for UAlbany.

Jordan Sugars finished with 14 for the Midshipmen (2-4), while J.J. Avila added 12.

ALBANY - The University at Albany showed they are the more talented team in the first half.

Despite leading scorer Gerardo Suero only playing eight minutes because of foul trouble, the Great Danes led by as many as 12 and led for virtually the entire half.

Logan Aronhalt leads the way with 10 points, while Luke Devlin had his most productive half of the year to date, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds in 15 minutes.

Freshman Tanner Gibson also saw his first action, playing seven minutes.

Navy was led by Jordan Brickman and Donya Jackson, who each had two 3-pointers in the first half, finishing with six points.

Jackson hit two big treys to end the half and cut UAlbany's lead in half.

AP

After five road game, the University at Albany men's basketball team opens up the home portion of the schedule Friday afternoon, against Navy.

It's not great timing, as most of the students are likely home for Thanksgiving break, but there could be a good crowd because the Great Danes have shown a lot of offensive firepower so far this season.

UAlbany has already had three leading scorers in its five games (Logan Aronhalt, Jayson Guerrier & Gerardo Suero). The Great Danes are averaging 67.6 points per game, despite scoring just 46 in the last game against George Mason.

Here is a link to the game advance that ran in Friday's edition of The Record.

It'll be interesting to see how UAlbany bounces back against a Navy that has lost three in a row, including the Siena's season-opener, back on Nov. 16.

The Great Danes are certainly the favorite today, but they have to go out and take care of business.

AP

All Will Brown could was shrug his shoulders, while sitting on the bench Tuesday evening.

His team continued to get good shots, but again and again, they came up short.

“Outside of the first five minutes of the game, we got whatever shot we wanted from where we wanted and just could not knock them down,” Brown said. “Which was a shock to me because of the guys we had on the floor.”

The Great Danes shot 16-for-61 (26.2 percent) from the floor, in a 66-46 loss, to the Patriots, but it wasn't for a lack of effort.

“I guess, when it rains, it pours,” Brown said.

Brown actually said that, in his 11 years at UAlbany, he had never seen one of his teams miss so many good looks.

A couple of sequences really bothered Brown.

One was when Logan Aronhalt, Mike Black and Gerardo Suero all missed open 3-pointers and then George Mason made a long shot at the end of the shot clock.

Another was when Black missed a layup and the Patriots went the other way, scoring and getting a foul. George Mason missed the free throw and they scored again to turn what could have been a 9-point deficit into a 15-point margin.

“I think we can beat that team if we play them again,” Brown said.

The Great Danes open the home portion of the schedule, with Navy, at 4 p.m., on Friday.

Jeff Couch/The Record

The Siena men's basketball team dropped its first game of the 2011-12 season, on Monday evening, against St. Bonaventure.

There wasn't much time to spend thinking about the loss, as the Saints jumped on a charter flight to Atlanta, to take on the only high-major school the team will face during the regular season.

Siena takes on Georgia Tech tonight, at the Arena at Gwinnett, just outside the city of Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets will likely be out for some sort of revenge, following last year's game, which the Saints won, 62-57.

Here is a link to the game advance that ran in Wednesday's editon of The Record.

Also, this game can be seen on ESPNU.

Here are my ballots for the ECAC Lambert Polls.

The number in the (x) is if the team appears elsewhere on the actual poll. 

FCS
1. Lehigh
2. Towson
3. Old Dominion
4. New Hampshire
5. Harvard
6. Maine
7. James Madison
8. Delaware
9. UAlbany
10. Stony Brook (NR)

In poll, but not on my ballot
10. Georgetown

 Division III
1. Wesley
2. Salisbury (3)
3. Delaware Valley (T1)
4. Kean
5. St. John Fisher
6. Thomas More (8)
7. Hobart (6)
8. Montclair State (10)
9. Cortland State (NR)
10. Amherst (9)

In poll, but not on my ballot
7. Johns Hopkins

Courtesy UAlbany Athletics

I'm literally just getting my first look at the University at Albany's boxscore, from tonight's game against Monmouth.

The Great Danes clobbered the Hawks 85-49.

How about the night for junior college transfer Jayson Guerrier (left).

Some very good players might never have a night where they go 9-for-10 from the floor, including hitting five treys, finishing with a career-high 28 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds.

That's what Guerrier did tonight.

So far it looks like coach Will Brown has struck gold with JuCo transfers Guerrier and Gerardo Suero, who was named America East Player of the Week, but only scored 16 points on Monday (that's his lowest total of his college career).

Mike Black added nine points and nine assists, while Ralph Watts scored 12 points, off the bench. It was a quiet night for Logan Aronhalt, who fouled out with just five points.

Courtesy UAlbany Athletics

The Great Danes seem to be getting harder and harder to try and scout because they've had five players (Suero, Guerrier, Watts, Black, Aronhalt) score in double figures already this season and they still aren't totally healthy.

UAlbany (2-2) will be run in to much more of a test on Tuesday, when they take on the host Patriots from George Mason (3-2).

Ryan Pearson is averaging 20.8 points per game, while Vertrail Vaughns is averaging 15.0 points and Sherrod Wright is checking in at 11.8 points per game.

The Patriots are coached by former Siena coach Paul Hewitt, who is in his first season after being fired from Georgia Tech. 

The way UAlbany is playing this should be a good game.

Here is video reaction from Monday's 64-58 St. Bonaventure victory over Siena.

Below is Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro talking about the game.



Below is senior center Brandon Walters.

ALBANY - Kyle Downey didn't do much sitting around, during Monday night's game, so while I talked to him in the locker room, I figured I'd give him a break and let him sit, rather than standing.

Downey didn't come out of the 64-58 loss to St. Bonaventure, playing all 40 minutes.

"I don't think it's going to be like that for the rest of the year," he said, seated in front of his locker.

It was the third straight game Downey has played more than 30 minutes and has to at least bring up the question that the Saints may eventually get worn down.

With the injuries to Owen Wignot (head) and Trenity Burdine (foot), Siena is only suiting up seven scholarship players and all of them are playing a ton of minutes.

Downey (37.3 min/gm) and Brandon Walters (38.0 min/gm) are both nearly playing entire games.

"I've always said tired is just a mindset," Downey said. "You're only going to be tired, if you allow yourself to be tired. If you're mentally strong, you'll be fine."

By comparison, last season Ryan Rossiter averaged 37.4 minutes per game, less than Walters is playing now.

The season before no player averaged more than Ronald Moore's 36.0 minutes per game, including Edwin Ubiles (30.9), Alex Franklin (32.9) and Rossiter (32.9).

Those teams certainly had more players, so I decided to look at Fran McCaffery's first season, when the team was very short on depth.

During the 2005-06 season, Antoine Jordan (36.4) and Kojo Mensah (35.1) averaged the most minutes.

While Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro doesn't have many other options than to play the guys that are healthy, I'm just beginning to wonder if these players will get worn down before the season is over.

ALBANY - Siena put up a terrific effort, but in the end, St. Bonaventure was too much, on Monday evening.

Eric Mosley scored a team-high 17 points, while Andrew Nicholson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, in a 64-58 Bonnies victory.

St. Bonaventure (2-1) took the lead for good, with a 10-1 run to close the first half, which was the Bonnies first lead of the game.

Evan Hymes scored a game-high 18 points, giving him 58 points in his first three collegiate games.

Brandon Walters added 12 points and eight rebounds, while O.D. Anosike finished with four points and 10 rebounds.

The Saints (2-1) hung right with a talented Atlantic-10 team, so there are definitely a lot of positives.

With the lack of depth and young team, it will be a test for Siena to turn around and play an ACC team, Georgia Tech, on Wednesday, in Atlanta.

ALBANY - This Evan Hymes kid is no joke.

If you thought, the 30-point performance against Mount St. Mary's wasn't for real, Hymes came out and showed again that he's a capable scoring machine.

Hymes has 14 points for Siena, but St. Bonaventure end the half with a big run to take the lead into intermission.

The Saints' biggest lead in the first half was eight, but the Bonnies ended the half on an 10-1 run.

Andrew Nicholson has six points for St. Bonaventure, but he picked up his second foul with 4:44 to play in the first half and went to the bench.

O.D. Anosike is still have trouble getting started offensively. He was held scoreless in the first half.

The Siena Saints look to start the year off 3-0, for the first time since the 2002-03 season, tonight when they take on the Bonnies, from the Atlantic-10.

I found it hard to believe that Siena didn't start a season 3-0, when they had their incredible run of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and NCAA tournament success, but here are the Saints' record for the first three games, dating back to '02-03.

2010-11 - 1-2
2009-10 - 2-1 (NCAA tournament & MAAC champs)
2008-09 - 2-1 (NCAA tournament & MAAC champs)
2007-08 - 1-2 (NCAA tournament & MAAC champs)
2006-07 - 1-2
2005-06 - 1-2
2004-05 - 0-3
2003-04 - 2-1
2002-03 - 3-0

That means that coach Mitch Buonaguro has a chance to do something tonight that Fran McCaffery didn't do in his time in Loudonville.

The Saints are also the only undefeated MAAC team remaining -- again it's real early, but that's a step in the right direction.

Siena is coming off of a victory at Mount St. Mary's in which freshman point guard Evan Hymes scored a career-high 30 points, becoming the first Saints freshman to score 30, since Jack McClinton did so, in 2005. Incredibly, Hymes, who is only starting because of the injury to Rakeem Brookins, is averaging 20.0 points per game through his first two collegiate games.

While the first two wins were nice and I'm sure provided a huge boost of confidence for the team, this is the Saints' first real test of the season.

St. Bonaventure sports one of the best big men in the country, in 6-foot-8 Andrew Nicholson.

Here is a link to a ESPN feature from last year, on Nicholson (right), who is a Naismith Watch List and Wooden Award candidate.

Nicholson will be a tough task for O.D. Anosike and Brandon Walters, but it should help that they can switch between two big men.

If Siena wins tonight, watch out.

The University at Albany is back on the road this evening, competing in the third and fourth rounds of the Preseason NIT Tip-Off.

The Great Danes take on Monmouth (0-3), at the Patriot Center, on the campus of George Mason University. UAlbany will play the Patriots on Tuesday evening.

Here is a link to my story about the team heading back on the road, focusing on sophomore Luke Devlin, as he continues to return from offseason back surgery.

On paper, UAlbany should be favored to beat the Hawks, who have lost their three games by an average of 37.7 points per game.

Monmouth has played Villanova, Virginia Tech and George Mason, so they have played some very difficult competition.

The talk surrounding the Great Danes continues to be about Gerardo Suero, who is averaging 25.7 points per game through his first three career games for UAlbany.

These back-to-back games will challenge the Great Danes.

Senior DE Eddie Delaney talks about being in the FCS NCAA tournament.

Here is the regular-season finale for the The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25.

I'm heading over to the University at Albany in just minutes to watch the selection show, with the team.

Here is my ballot, with the number in (x) if it's different in the actual poll.

1. Sam Houston State
2. Georgia Southern (3)
3. Lehigh (6)
4. Northern Iowa (2)
5. North Dakota State (4)
6. Montana (5)
7. Montana State
8. Appalachian State (9)
9. Towson (8)
10. Old Dominion
11. New Hampshire
12. Harvard (16)
13. Maine
14. Wofford (12)
15. Central Arkansas
16. James Madison (17)
17. Delaware (14)
18. Norfolk State (19)
19. Liberty (24)
20. Tennessee Tech (21)
21. North Dakota (23)
22. Furman (NR)
23. UAlbany (NR)
24. Stony Brook (22)
25. Duquesne (NR)

Not in my ballot, but in poll.
18. Illinois State
20. Jackson State
25. Jacksonville State

Here are some videos from the University at Albany's football 31-21 victory over Sacred Heart.

The team celebrates with Coach Bob Ford, Athletic Director Lee McElroy and President George Philip.



The team rushes the field for the last play (You can see Coach Ford get the Gatorade bath at the bottom of the screen).



Coach Bob Ford talks about the win

ALBANY - The University at Albany football team knew that had to win to get into the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs.

On Saturday, they went out and did just that, defeating Sacred Heart 31-21, to capture the Northeast Conference title.

The Great Danes (7-1, 8-3) will find out on Sunday, who they will play when the 20-team postseason begins.

Dan Di Lella threw four touchdown passes for UAlbany, three of them to Ryan Kirchner. Drew Smith ran for 135 yards on 23 carries.

Di Lella's 24 touchdown passes for the season, set a single-season program mark.

The Great Danes were picked fourth in the preseason, but they proved throughout the season that they were the best team in the league.

Siena headed out on the road, on Friday, for the team's first road trip.

The Saints (1-0) take on Mount St. Mary's (1-1) on Saturday, at 7 p.m.

The Mountaineers are coached by former Siena assistant Robert Burke, who was in Loudonville under Paul Hewitt, from 1997-2000.

The Saints hope to have senior Owen Wignot available. Wignot suffered a head injury in Wednesday's season-opener against Navy.

Here is a link to the game advance, which appeared in Saturday's paper.

The last time these two teams played, was back in 2010.

Siena had to rally, scoring the final seven points of regulation, to post a 79-76 overtime victory, in Albany.

Ryan Rossiter scored a game-high 29 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds. Alex Franklin added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Saints.

Siena failed to make a 3-pointer in the game, snapping a streak a 536 games,, dating back to Jan. 15. 1992, with at least one trey made.

SIENA at MOUNT ST. MARY’S
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: Knott Arena, Emmitsburg, Md.
Radio: TALK 1300-AM (Robert Lee, Tom Huerter)
Records: Siena 1-0. Mount St. Mary’s 1-1.
About the Saints: Siena is looking to start the season 2-0, for the first time in two years. The Saints could be without senior forward Owen Wignot, who suffered a head injury in the season-opener against Navy. Six of the Saints’ eight available scholarship players played 24 or more minutes in the team’s first game.
About the Mountaineers: Mount St. Mary’s is coached by former Siena assistant coach Robert Burke. Burke coached under Paul Hewitt, from 1997-2000 and helped the Saints win a MAAC title, and the 1999 NCAA tournament. Prior to the start of the season, Burke suspended senior Lamar Trice and sophomore Kristijan Krajina, for a violation of team rules.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
SIENA
No./Name Pos. Yr. Ht.
5 Evan Hymes G Fr. 5-8
3 Kyle Downey G Sr. 6-3
31 Owen Wignot F Sr. 6-6
1 OD Anosike F Jr. 6-8
0 Brandon Walters C Sr. 6-8

MOUNT ST. MARY’S
No./Name Pos. Yr. Ht.
11 Chad Holley G Fr. 6-0
12 Josh Castellanos G So. 6-1
23 Julian Norfleet G So. 6-2
42 Danny Thompson F Sr. 6-7
35 Raven Barber F Jr. 6-8

ALBANY - The news isn't good for University at Albany sophomore center John Puk.

Puk (44) underwent a surgical procedure on Thursday to deal with swelling in his left shin.

"They split that baby open," Brown said.

They had to get the poison, puss and blood out of the shin and they will take another look, during halftime of Saturday's football game.

"We should see great progress in the nest 48 hours," Brown said. "If we don't see much in the nesxt 48 hours, then we have to look at the next alternative, which I haven't discussed with our doctors or (trainer) Jay (Geiger) yet."

Puk will miss time, Brown is just unsure of how much time it will be.

"I'm not thinking worst-case," Brown said. "I'm thinking best-case right now and I don't know what the best case is right now."

As far as short-term, Brown said he could go back to a lineup he used on the team's Canada trip, in August, and play Logan Aronhalt at a forward positon, when the Danes take on Monmouth and George Mason, Monday and Tuesday, in the continuation of the Preseason NIT Tip-Off.

Brown also said that freshman guard Peter Hooley (foot) is out indefinitely and junior guard Mike Black (ankle) won't practice today or Saturday.

University at Albany senior defensive end Eddie Delaney talks about getting ready for the final game of the regular season.

The Great Danes will win the Northeast Conference and a spot in the Division I FCS football playoffs, with a victory over Sacred Heart.

ALBANY - Evan Hymes wouldn't admit to being nervous before his first college basketball game, but Siena's freshman point guard said he was excited to be out on the floor.

“The crowd gave the whole team energy,” Hymes said, following his 10-point performance in a 65-56 victory over Navy.

Hymes was pressed into duty because of the season-ending injury suffered by sophomore Rakeem Brookins.

Hymes looked very comfortable running the point and leading the Saints on this night.

“I was just playing my game,” he said.

Hymes was one of four freshmen who saw significant playing time for Siena.

“The four freshmen – we all played great,” Hymes said.

In the second half, after making a jumper Hymes wend down with a cramp and had to come out of the game.

He said that, while it was tight enough that he couldn't return to action, he should be fine for Saturday's road game against Mount St. Mary.

"I'll just need to get in the training room and get some treatment," Hymes said.

Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro talks about his team's victory over Navy on Wednesday .



Navy coach Ed DeChellis talks about the game.



Here is added video from inside the Siena locker room, following the game, thanks to Siena's athletic department.

ALBANY - It wasn't exactly the way they drew it up, but the Siena men's basketball team will take a victory to start the season.

Kyle Downey scored 19 points, Brandon Walters added 12 and Evan Hymes finished with 10 as the Saints improved to 1-0.

The Saints survived injures to Hymes and senior Owen Wignot, who had a contusion on his head after a hard fall in the first half.

Siena also dealt with foul trouble to Downey and OD Anosike.

J.J. Avila scored 19 points to lead the Midshipmen (2-1).

LOUDONVILLE - All things considered, Siena has played very well in the first 20 minutes.

All eight scholarship players played in the first 10 minutes for the Saints.

Owen Wignot was injured six minutes in, after crashing to the ground, following a layup and OD Anosike picked up his second foul, only five minutes in.

The fact that Wignot and Anosike combined for 11 minutes and four points in the first half and Siena still leads is incredible.

Kyle Downey has a team-high eight points for the Saints, while J.J. Avila leads Navy with 11.

Following Monday evening's game between Syracuse and the University at Albany, Ralph Watts and Mookie Jones shared a quick second.

The two former Peekskill High players, who were on opposite sides of Syracuse's 98-74 victory over UAlbany, Tuesday evening, told each other to keep working hard this season.

"We just said 'Good luck, keep your head up and keep working,'" Watts said.

Watts transferred to Peekskill during his junior season and the two were on the Red Devils team that advanced to the state semifinal game, in 2008. Peekskill lost to Jamesville-Dewitt and current Syracuse guard Brandon Triche, at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Mookie went on to Syracuse University and Watts, as a senior, helped lead Peekskill to the 2009 New York State Class A state championship game, where they again lost to Jamesville, 77-75, in overtime.

Watts says he doesn't get to see Jones as much because the two hardly go home, with the hectic schedule of a Division I basketball players.

"When we see each other, we show love," Watts said. "I hit him up on twitter before the game."

RPI junior quarterback Mike Hermann has tons of talent and raw skills.

He turned in some terrific performances during the 2011 season and for that he was named the Liberty League's 2011 Offensive Player of the Year, on Wednesday.


Hermann (above) threw for 2,054 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also being RPI's top runner, finishing with 648 yards on the ground and 15 more scores.

His average off 300.2 yards of total offense, per game, was tops in the conference.

Hermann joins three other Engineers on the first team - offensive lineman Joe Stenz, defensive back Nick Herrera and punter Mike Grubbs.

Lansingburgh native Justin Gallo (below), a senior wide receiver for Union College also earned first team honors. Gallo finished an incredible season with 67 receptions for 1,178 yards and 16 touchdowns. Gallo also became the all-time leading receiver, finishing his career with 3,288 receiving yards, while also setting a new single-season receiving touchdown record.


Wide Receiver Austin Caswell, defensive lineman Ted Abriel, linebacker Matthew Day and defensive back Zach Scruggs represented RPI on the second team.

The Engineers also placed tight end Joe Cozzolino, offensive lineman Joe Luks and kicker Andrew Franks on the honorable mention list.

Siena kicks off the 2011-12 season on Wednesday evening against Navy.

For the first time in a while, there are a lot of unknowns for the Saints.

I think it will be a very interesting season for coach Mitch Buonaguro and the players.

Our season preview stuff ran in Wednesday's paper edition.

Here are some links to stories from the preview package.

Walters looking forward to expanded role with Saints

Young Saints ready for opener

SYRACUSE - Will Brown knew it would be tough, nearly impossible to defeat Syracuse on Tuesday evening.

UAlbany's coach had the goal to see how his team could play in four-minute segments, trying to win as many of those to build up to a solid performance.

Here is the breakdown of those four-minute segments, throughout the game. The last number is what the clock read at each media timeout.

• FIRST HALF
• First Media – 10-9 Cuse – 15:49
• Second Media – 10-7 Cuse – 11:31
• Third Media – 16-7 Cuse – 7:33
• Fourth Media – 7-9 UAlbany – 3:22
• Half – 8-2 Cuse

• SECOND HALF
• First Media – 11-3 Cuse – 15:41
• Second Media – 7-12 UAlbany – 11:52
• Third Media – 12-9 Cuse – 7:41
• Fourth Media – 8-8 tied – 3:28
• Final – 9-8 Cuse

While UAlbany didn't do as well as I'm sure Brown would have liked, there were some good stretches for the Great Danes.

Brown also has the advantage of having the legendary Don Bassett working with him on the sidelines.

Bassett won 304 games in 22 seasons as a high school basketball coach in Section II, including more than 250 games at Catholic Central High, in Troy.

Brown has Bassett keeping a plus/minus sheet, something more commonly seen nowadays in hockey.

"It shows us when guys are in the game, what we were while they were in the game," Brown said. "That give me a good feel for if there's any consistencies," Brown said.

Brown is using the information in-game to affect what lineups and combinations he wants on the floor.

"Even thought I took Mike (Black) out, we had a lineup in there that was like plus eight," Brown said. "I took Mike out, but I was thinking I have to let that group play a little bit."

SYRACUSE - The University at Albany certainly didn't win on Tuesday evening, but they took a step in the right direction.

Gerardo Suero scored a game-high 31 points and Logan Aronhalt added 20, but the Great Danes dropped to 1-2, on the year.

Suero's total was the most by an opposing player, at the Carrier Dome, since Cornell's Ryan Wittman scored 33, back in 2008.

He also scored the most points for a UAlbany player, since Jason Siggers scored 34 against Vermont, back in 2007.

Here are postgame reactions from Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and UAlbany coach Will Brown.

SYRACUSE - The University at Albany started off the game well and continued to play a solid first half.

The No. 5 team in the country showed why they are ranked that high, as the half went on.

James Southerland leads Syracuse with 14 points, while Kris Joseph added 11.

Gerardo Suero led the Great Danes with 16 first-half points, while Logan Aronhalt added 11.

UAlbany coach Will Brown talked about winning segments of the game. There is a TV timeout after every four minutes.

Below are the scores for those segments and the time that the clock was stopped.

First Media – 10-9 Cuse – 15:49
Second Media – 10-7 Cuse – 11:31
Third Media – 16-7 Cuse – 7:33
Fourth Media – 7-9 UAlbany – 3:22
Half – 8-2 Cuse

The Great Danes trailed by only nine, before the final few minutes, as the Orange ended the half on a 13-5 run.

Here are my ballots for the ECAC Lambert Poll.

The playoffs are here for Division III and this upcoming weekend is the final regular-season weekend for FCS.

The number in the (x) is if the team is somewhere else on the poll.

FCS
1. Lehigh
2. Maine (3)
3. Towson (2)
4. Old Dominion
5. Harvard
6. New Hampshire
7. James Madison
8. Delaware
9. UAlbany
10. Duquesne (NR)

Team in poll, but not on my ballot.
10. Brown

Division III
1. Wesley
2. Salisbury (3)
3. Delaware Valley (2)
4. Johns Hopkins
5. Kean
6. Thomas More
7. Montclair State
8. Cortland State (9)
9, Amherst (8)
10. St. John Fisher (NR)

Team in poll, but not on my ballot.
10. Hobart

Here is my ballot for The Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25.

The number in the (x) is if the team is elsewhere on the actual poll.

1. Sam Houston State (2)
2. Montana State (1)
3. Georgia Southern
4. Lehigh (6)
5. Northern Iowa (4)
6. North Dakota State (5)
7. Maine (11)
8. Montana (7)
9. Appalachian State
10. Towson (8)
11. Old Dominion (10)
12. Harvard (18)
13. New Hampshire (12)
14. Wofford (13)
15. Liberty (16)
16. Central Arkansas (17)
17. James Madison (19)
18. Illinois State (14)
19. Delaware (15)
20. Norfolk State
21. Portland State (25)
22. Tennessee Tech (23)
23. South Dakota (22)
24. Indiana State (NR)
25. Furman (24)

In poll, but not on my ballot
21. Jackson State

Others receiving votes: Indiana State 331, North Dakota 195, Youngstown State 141, Jacksonville State 139, Stony Brook 135, Alabama State 98, San Diego 84, Bethune-Cookman 67, Duquesne 51, Drake 50, Eastern Kentucky 43, Brown 41, Chattanooga 39, William & Mary 28, Georgetown 24, Albany 19, Stephen F. Austin 18, Bryant 11, Southern Utah 11, Murray State 10, Florida A&M 10, Grambling State 8, South Carolina State 8, South Daktoa State 6, Alabama A&M 5, Samford 5, Eastern Washington 5, Elon 4, Cal Poly 4, Tennessee State 2, Jacksonville 1, Massachusetts 1.

SYRACUSE - The University at Albany will square off against its second Top 10 opponent in a five-day stretch on Tuesday.

The Great Danes take on No. 5 Syracuse, in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off, with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line.

UAlbany junior transfer Gerardo Suero helped lead UAlbany to its first win of the season, scoring a game-high 29 points, in a 77-68 victory over Brown on Monday.

Suero is now averaging 23 points per game, through his first two games as a Great Dane.

Here's a link to the game story in today's print edition of The Record.

Here's a link to a story written by The Daily Orange, the student newspaper.

UAlbany will play Syracuse, who throttled Manhattan, 92-56.

Senior Kris Joseph (right) surpassed the 1,000-point mark and the Orange improved to 2-0.

The game can be seen on Time Warner-3, in the Capital District.

UAlbany has never beaten Syracuse (0-8) and never defeated a ranked team (0-12).

Here's a link to The Daily Orange's story of last night's Syracuse game.

Here's the game story from The Post-Standard's Mike Waters.

Here are some highlights from UAlbany's 77-68 victory over Brown, in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off Monday evening.

Then, UAlbany coach Will Brown talks about the game.

SYRACUSE - It wasn't all that pretty in the second half, but the University at Albany earned its first victory of the season Monday evening.

Gerardo Suero scored a game-high 29 points and Logan Aronhalt added 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds as the Great Danes defeated Brown 77-68, at the Carrier Dome, in Syracuse, in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off.

UAlbany will play either No. 5 Syracuse or Manhattan, Tuesday day evening, for a spot at Madison Square Garden.

Matt Sullivan led the Bears (1-1), with 26 points, while Sean McGonagill added 17 for the Bears.

SYRACUSE - The University at Albany men's basketball team looked pretty good in the first half, here at the NIT Season Tip-Off, at the Carrier Dome, in Syracuse.

The Great Danes shot 53.8 percent (14-26) and it was newcomer Gerardo Suero leading the way with 14 points.

UAlbany's biggest lead was 14 points and the showed they were the better team. Now, they will see if they can finish Brown off.

The Bears were led by Sean McGonagill, who had 10 points in the first 20 minutes.

The University at Albany men's basketball team looks to get its first victory of the season in the Dick's Preseason NIT, this afternoon against Brown.

The Great Danes will be trying to avoid an 0-2 start for the fourth consecutive season.

UAlbany has defeated Brown in both of the previous meetings between these two school, winning in 2005 and 2006.

Here is a game capsule.

UALBANY (0-1) vs. BROWN (1-0)
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse
When: Tonight, 4 p.m.
Radio: WOFX 980-AM
UAlbany Notes: The Great Danes are coming off a 89-56 loss at No. 10 Pittsburgh on Friday evening. UAlbany is trying to avoid an 0-2 start for the fourth consecutive season. Junior college transfer Gerardo Suero scored 17 points in the season-opener.
Brown Notes: The Bears opened up play with an 86-66 victory over Division III Johnson & Wales. Sophomore Sean McGonagill was the Ivy League's rookie of the year, last season, averaging 11.8 points per game. In the opener, McGonagill finished with 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

Starting Five
No, Player, Pos., Yr., Ht, Ppg
Brown
22, Sean McGonagill, G, So., 6-1, 20.0
44, Jean Harris, G, Sr., 6-2, 11.0
25, Matt Sullivan, G, Jr., 6-5, 9.0
5, Tyler Ponticelli, F, Jr., 6-8, 17.0
23, Andrew McCarthy, F, Jr., 6-8, 8.0
UAlbany
10, Mike Black, G, Jr., 6-0, 11.0
3, Logan Aronhalt, G, Jr., 6-3, 13.0
20, Gerardo Suero, G, Jr., 6-4, 17.0
11, Luke Devlin, F, So., 6-8, 2.0
44, John Puk, C, So., 6-10, 0.0

From UAlbany Sports Info Department

Photos are courtesy Bill Ziskin

West Long Branch, N.J. – Andrew Smith ran for two touchdowns and passed for another, as UAlbany came from behind in the second half for a 41-24 Northeast Conference victory over Monmouth on Saturday afternoon at Kessler Field. The Great Danes remained in a tie for first place in the conference standings.

Monmouth (5-5, NEC 4-3) cashed in on a Jameson Zacharias’ interception during the first series on the second half to take a 17-14 lead. The Hawks moved seven plays for the go-ahead touchdown. Craig Peterson, who completed 32 of 49 passes for 296 yards and two scores, guided his team into position. Freshman Julian Hayes drove five yards over the left side and into the end zone.

UAlbany (7-3, NEC 6-1) responded with 27 unanswered points in regaining the lead. Herb Glass booted the first of two field goals to draw his team even. After the Great Danes’ defense forced a punt, Smith broke loose on a 62-yard touchdown scamper for a 24-17 margin with 1:36 remaining in the third period. Smith, who rushed for 131 yards on 14 carries, busted out on the right and raced up the sideline.

The Great Danes, who have won seven of their last eight contests, extended the lead to 31-17 early in the final stanza. Dan Di Lella, a senior quarterback, hit tailback Dillon Romain in the left flat with a screen pass and the sophomore advanced up the sideline to finish off a 53-yard scoring play. The drive started when cornerback Leon Saddler picked off a Peterson pass.

UAlbany used special teams play to end its scoring outburst. With the Great Danes lined up for a punt at the Monmouth 44, Smith took a short snap and threw a jump-pass to Justinian Mason. The sophomore free safety caught the ball in the middle of the field and worked his way to paydirt. Glass added a 39-yard field goal with 3:08 left.

“We had big plays in all three phases of the game,” said UAlbany coach Bob Ford, whose team will play for the NEC championship and NCAA automatic berth next Saturday. “We couldn’t seem to get off the field (on defense) in the first half, but we went to a nickel package and that helped. I told our coaches we are in a ten-round fight and we just need to keep punching.”

In the first quarter, Monmouth scored with the opening kickoff on a 12-play drive that resulted in Eric Spillane’s 37-yard field goal. Peterson, a senior signal-caller, made the key plays with a third-down completion and a 27-yard throw to Mitchell Pollard. Following a short punt, the Great Danes went ahead on Smith’s one-yard run. The touchdown was set up by Di Lella’s 32-yard pass to wide receiver Cole King.

The Hawks came back with a 16-play, 78-yard scoring drive for a 10-7 advantage. Peterson kept the sequence alive with four third-down passes, including a six-yard touchdown completion to tight end Mike McLafferty. UAlbany struck quickly again to go back in front. Di Lella found tight end Brian Parker wide open in the middle of the Monmouth zone and the redshirt freshman rumbled 55 yards to the end zone for a 14-10 lead. The Great Danes had an opportunity to increase its lead, but Di Lella was held short of the goal line on a fourth-down sneak with 1:30 remaining in the period.

“It was an inside zone play,” explained Smith on the 62-yard touchdown run. “I bumped it out and felt them (the defense) at my feet, but I just kept going. This is a big championship game coming up. This is what we came here for; it’s playoff time.”

UAlbany’s Di Lella passed for a career-high 306 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first UAlbany quarterback to throw for 300-plus since 1997. Hayes rushed for 78 yards on 18 carries for the Hawks, who came into the contest tied for third in the conference standings.

“We had a much better attitude and were determined to win,” said Di Lella about his team coming off a last week’s league loss. “They were in my face and my rib cage on that screen pass, but I knew we had a great play. We want to be explosive.”

From the Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Travon Woodall scored a career-high 25 points to go with 10 assists and No. 10 Pittsburgh rolled by Albany 89-56 in the season opener on Friday night.

Ashton Gibbs added 21 points for the Panthers, who remained unbeaten in nine season debuts under coach Jamie Dixon.

The defending Big East regular-season champions wasted little time, needing 5 minutes to take a double-digit lead.

Gerardo Suero led Albany with 17 points and Logan Aronhalt added 13 points and five rebounds but the Great Danes were never in it.

Gibbs and Woodall dominated, feeding off each other against Albany’s overmatched backcourt. Woodall made 9 of 13 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers.

Pitt played without sophomore forward J.J. Moore, suspended for one game for playing in an unsupervised summer league game.

For one game, the Panthers didn’t need him, not with Gibbs and Woodall doing their thing.

Gibbs, the preseason Big East player of the year, eagerly fed Woodall the ball when the Great Danes threw two or sometimes three defenders his way.

The senior guard set a career-high with seven assists, though he was pretty good when he put the ball up too. Gibbs scored 15 points in the first half on 6-of-11 shooting as the Panthers took advantage of numerous defensive breakdowns by Albany.

Gibbs hit a jumper to put Pitt up 13-3. The Panthers were off to the races, one of the Big East’s most tenacious defensive teams showing it could get out and run too.

Forward Nasir Robinson showed no ill effects from a knee injury that limited him during the preseason, finishing with eight points and three rebounds in 23 effective minutes.

Freshman forward Khem Birch, just the sixth McDonald’s All-America to play at Pitt, had a so-so debut, missing his one shot from the field but making two free throws to go with three rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Great Danes were coming off a breakthrough season under coach Will Brown. Albany went 16-16, a nine-win improvement off the season before. The Great Danes return four starters and were picked to finish fourth in the American East and are expected to compete for a postseason berth.

Yet they have been hit with injuries during preseason and it showed. Forward Luke Devlin didn’t play for four months after undergoing back surgery and had just two points and two rebounds in 26 minutes. Center John Puk had an infection in his shin earlier in the week and went scoreless in 13 minutes.

Pitt has won 15 straight season openers dating to 1997 and remained unbeaten at the Petersen Events Center against nonconference opponents in November and December.

The season opener is here for the University at Albany Great Danes.

It's time to stop talking and start playing.

This evening, UAlbany will head into the Petersen Events Center (aka Oakland Zoo) and take on Pittsburgh to open to the 2011-12 season.

Here are some links to get you all you need to know about tonight's game.

Troy Record - For openers, no patsies as UAlbany opens at No. 10 Pittsburgh

Troy Record - UAlbany overview: Great Danes say they're ready to run to top of America East

104.5 ESPN The Team - UAlbany hoops tips off vs. No. 11 Pitt

AP - Albany-Pittsburgh preview

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Early Games to provide key answers for Panthers basketball

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Pitt's Moore to miss opener

The Pitt News - Men's Basketball: Gibbs leads Panthers into season opener

Pitt athletics Gameday Central

Pitt Game Notes

ALBANY - The first time Luke Devlin hit the floor, following his back surgery in the offseason, he was nervous.

After a few bumps from teammates, Devlin realized his worst fears were behind him.

More than four months after offseason surgery, Devlin is getting ready for the 2011-12 season to begin.

“I’m feeling real good in practice,” he said, before Wednesday's practice.

The health of Devlin and fellow sophomore John Puk (Achilles) is critical to the Great Danes' chances of having a good year.

Both players currently feel good and barring something unforeseen the two will be in the starting lineup on Friday evening, when UAlbany takes on No. 11 Pittsburgh. (The game can be seen on SNY)

Devlin stopped short of calling himself 100 percent on Wednesday. He said the most of his problem is with his training.

“I’ve put in a lot of work off of the court for it,” he said.

As for how Devlin is actually affected on the floor, he said his game has been slower to return on the offensive end.

“Offensively is where it’s affecting it most,” he said. “Defense is all about effort and things like that, but offense is more about touch and getting back into game form.”

Puk said he feels good and hopes he will stay healthy throughout the season.

“Hopefully that holds up,” he said.