The Siena men's basketball team picked up its first victory of the season on Tuesday evening, defeating St. Bonaventure, 72-70.

Here is a link to the game story, which focuses on the game-winning shot from freshman Marquis Wright (which can be viewed a few posts previous to this). The win gives the Saints the Franciscan Cup for the first time in four years against their rival.

Here's a link to a photo gallery from the game, shot by photographer J.S. Carras.

J.S. Carras - The Record

ALBANY - The Siena men's basketball team picked up its first victory of the season, in pretty improbable fashion on Tuesday evening.

The Saints downed St. Bonaventure, 72-70, to win the Franciscan Cup, and give Jimmy Patsos his first victory at Siena head coach.

What it means: The Saints get their first victory of the year and finally got over the hump, after letting a second-half lead slip away at La Salle. The victory is also the first win over St. Bonaventure since the 1998-99 season, and Siena is now 34-68 all-time against Atlantic-10 opponents (7-28 vs. the Bonnies)

The Wright stuff: Marquis Wright didn't score many points, but he got the biggest basket of the game, a running, baking layup, with 0.2 seconds to play. Wright played 37 minutes and had seven assists and five rebounds to go along with his seven points.

Player of the Game: Brett Bisping played tremendous for the Saints. In 28 minutes off the bench, Bisping finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and one block. He was 4-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Play of the Game: Clearly Wright's basket was the biggest play of the game. He hit a difficult bank-shot, over Andell Cumberbatch, to send his team home victorious. Not to be outdone was a Bisping 3-pointer, with 3:31 remaining that put Siena up 70-68 and the Saints never trailed again, even though there were two ties.

Injury Update: It was a short night for Troy High grad Javion Ogunyemi, who went down in the first four minutes with an is initially being diagnosed as just an ankle sprain. It looked much worse (althought I'm not doctor). Ogunyemi, who had a season-ending injury to his right ankle during his junior year of high school, is scheduled for a MRI in the morning.

Coming Up: The Saints don't have much time to sit on this, as they hit the road for a Friday game at Cornell. Coach Patsos mentioned it in the postgame, but now he will be expecting a little more out of his bunch, which pushed one A-10 team to the wire on the road and now has beaten one at home. 

ALBANY - Marquis Wright drove the lane and finished strong, giving Siena its first victory under coach Jimmy Patsos and stake to the Franciscan Cup.

Wright's bank layup, just before the buzzer, finished an improbable game in which two players fouled out and another went down with an injury.

Still, the Saints got over the top, beating previously undefeated St. Bonaventure, 72-70, on Tuesday evening.

Lavon Long scored a team-high 15 points and Brett Bisping added 13 off the bench.

The Bonnies were led by Youssou Ndoye, who led four players in double figures, with 16 points.

ALBANY - Siena played its best half of the season in the first half on Tuesday evening.

Even with freshman Javion Ogunyemi going down with what was reported as an ankle injury and junior Rob Poole being held scoreless, the Saints lead St. Bonaventure 48-38 at the half.

Siena shot 47 percent (16-34) from the field, getting great play from Brett Bisping (8 pts, 5 reb) and Imoh Silas (6 pts, 4 reb) off the bench.

The Bonnies were led by Youssou Ndoye, who scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Saints have never claimed the Franciscan Cup in three previous years and are looking to do so here tonight.

OLEAN — The Siena offense has been tough to watch this season.

On Tuesday evening, the offensive woes went to a whole new level.

The Saints scored just five points in the final 12:22, as St. Bonaventure posted a 58-43 victory at the Reilly Center, on Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro’s 59th birthday.

St. Bonaventure (5-2) keeps possession of the Franciscan Cup, which they have now won in the
first three years. The previous two meetings were won by the Bonnies by only a combined nine points and the team are scheduled to meet next season in Albany. 

Siena (2-7) has still never won at the Reilly Center and have not defeated St. Bonaventure since 1998-99 season.

The Saints have now lost five straight games and the 43 points are the lowest in a game since a 61-40 loss to Manhattan, during the 1995-96 season.

The Saints scored 44 points twice last year, in losses at Georgia Tech and Saint Peter’s. The last five-game losing streak came last season, from Nov. 21-Dec. 3, and included a loss to St. Bonaventure and their first two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games.

Siena shot just 17-for-52 (33%) from the field, 4-for-15 (27%) from beyond the arc and only scored three points in the game’s final eight minutes.

The Bonnies held a 41-38 lead with 12:22 to play, but scored 17 of the game’s final 23 points.

The only Saints player who had a solid game was sophomore Trenity Burdine, who finished with a career-high 16 points.

Siena committed 17 turnovers, 13 of which came on the first half. The Saints were averaging 15 turnovers per game and now have committed 35 turnovers in their past two games.

St. Bonaventure cashed in on a big turnover, as Charlon Kloof collected a pass from Demetruis Conger and slammed it home to put the Bonnies up 43-38.

Matt Wright put the game away, with a three-point play that put St. Bonaventure up 48-40. 

Conger led the Bonnies with 14 points, while Marquise Simmons added 12 points.

Siena senior O.D. Anosike had his second straight game without a double-double, finishing with seven points and game-high 14 rebounds.

J.S. Carras/The Record

The Siena men's basketball team is getting any help from the schedule makers.

The Saints, who have lost four in a row, take on the Bonnies this evening, in Olean.

It is Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro's 59th birthday and the game is on national television, on NBC Sports Network. The game is a 9 p.m. tip.

Here is a link to my game preview. The game is the third in a four-game series and is for the Franciscan Cup, which has been won the past two years by St. Bonaventure.

Also, to add insult to injury, Yahoo! Sports writer Jeff Eisenberg has Siena as one of his early season disappointments.