ALBANY - For about six minutes on Monday evening, the Siena men's basketball team played about as well as it possibly can.

The Saints went on a 22-0 run to turn a 13-point deficit into a lead they wouldn't surrender, eventually knocking off Fordham 79-69, in front of 6,131 fans in downtown Albany.

“It was a pretty big win," said junior Evan Hymes, who finished with 12 points and three assists, off the bench. 

What it means: Siena doesn't have the best record, but the team has picked up some nice victories, beating two Atlantic 10 teams (Fordham, St. Bonaventure) and knocking off Hofstra here last week.

This team was picked 10th in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference poll, but if they play like they have been over the past few weeks, they will almost certainly finish higher in the standings.

Player of the game: Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said it was Hymes' emotion that got the team over the top, but fellow junior Rob Poole was awesome. He scored 20 of the team's first 40 points and finished with a career-high 28. Poole also chipped in six rebounds and helped guard the terrific guards Fordham has. Poole has elevated his game at both ends of the floor and is playing like an all-conference play.

Play of the game: Trailing 53-40, the Saints went on a 22-0 run that spanned 6:35. Siena went into a zone defense and the crowd helped spur them on offensively. The Rams couldn't score and the Saints couldn't be stopped.

“Without the fans, we wouldn’t have been as pumped up," said Poole.

Up next: Siena only has a few days off before their first game in 2014, at Monmouth, on Thursday. From here on out, it's all MAAC play for the Saints.