LOUDONVILLE - Evan Hymes continues to impress for the Siena Saints.

The pint-sized point guard tied for game-high honors, with 21 points and finished 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, in the 64-60 victory over the University at Albany, on Monday.

"Without him, we're not in the game," Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro said, on Tuesday, during his weekly media gathering.

Hymes scored 19 points in the first half, keeping the Saints in it, after they fell behind 31-12. He hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining that banked in off the backboard and cut the deficit to eight.

J.S. Carras/The Record

Hymes is Siena's leading scorer through eight games, averaging 14.9 points per game.

It's an incredible story, for a player who didn't have really any other interest out of high school and who had the starting role thrown into his lap, following the season-ending injury to sophomore Rakeem Brookins.

"He's right in the middle of all our wins," Buonaguro said. "Is it surprising? Yeah. But I do think he can score."

Buonaguro gave credit to assistant coach Craig Carter, who did most of the recruiting of Hymes, who is from Durham, N.C., but spent time growing up in Clifton Park.

"I did see that he could score," said Buonaguro, about watching tape of Hymes during the recruitment process.

Hymes also broke his leg during his junior year of high school, which may have lost him some attention.

"I think that scared a lot of people of," Buonaguro said.

Buonaguro said that Hymes' fearlessness and drive reminds him a lot about Brookins, who stepped right in last year as a freshman and took the leadership role of the team.

When assistant coach Craig Carter started showing up at St Vincent-St. Mary's games, it certainly caught the attention of Davonte Beard.

“That excited me,” said Beard, who played at the same high school as LeBron James. “When I saw Coach Carter at one of my games, I thought that’s a big-time school, so I’d be very interested in going to that school.”

Beard, who committed to Siena last spring, is expected to become a good player for the Saints. With the lack of depth, the 6-foot-2 guard will have to step right in.

“I’m excited,” Beard said Friday, at media day. “I’m glad that I have a lot of expectations for me, but at the end of the day I just want to play hard and give what Coach wants from me.”

Coach Mitch Buonaguro set the bar high right away for Beard, saying he expects a lot of out of him, while introducing the team on Friday morning.

"There's a lot of high expectations for him, coming into the league," Buonaguro said. "I expect him to be one of the better freshman in the league. I think he has tremendous ability.

Beard said he was attracted to Siena as soon as he stepped foot on campus.

“It’s like a brotherhood,” he said.

The transition for Beard and the other five freshmen was rough at first, but as practice begins Friday evening, they are feeling more comfortable.

With six new players on the roster, Siena will have to get contributions from some of them right away.

“I’d say we’re expected to do a lot this year,” Beard said.

LOUDONVILLE - After another frustrating loss against Saint Peter's on Wednesday, Siena's three seniors and assistant coach Craig Carter addressed the team in the locker room.

On Friday, coach Mitch Buonaguro said he hopes that will spark a resurgence in his team, which has lost a season-high four straight games.

“They guys respect the three seniors and they’re three great kids,” Buonaguro said of Ryan Rossiter, Clarence Jackson and Steven Priestley. “I think they expressed what they thought we had to do the rest of the year to be successful.”

With only three regular season games remaining in their careers, the senior are starting to feel a sense of urgency to start winning and keep the season going as long as possible.

“These are three guys that have played on three NCAA teams,” Buonaguro said. “They don’t want it to end. I think they’re realizing that we have to pick it up, get these wins and get a decent seed in the tournament.”