From Tuesday's Print Edition

LOUDONVILLE — Ryan Rossiter remembers a conversation he had with his father after the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game.

Rossiter had signed to join the Saints the next season, but had just watched Siena fall to Niagara and the Purple Eagles punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

On the drive home from Bridgeport, Conn., to his home on Staten Island, Steve Rossiter told his son the loss could be a good thing for him.

“We were talking about how intense of a game it was and I remember my father saying, ‘it might hurt for them, but it might be a good thing for you because they’ll be hungrier next season,’” Ryan Rossiter said.

Steve then told his youngest son that he would probably play in an NCAA Tournament and it could even be in his very first season.

“I think my dad saw what we had as a team and what we had coming back,” Ryan Rossiter said. “He knew how hard everyone was going to work, so it was definitely a reality and it worked out.”

Ryan played just 22 minutes and had only a single basket in Siena’s two NCAA Tournament games in 2008.

Now, as a sophomore, Ryan is one of the biggest reasons that this Saints squad earned the best seed in program history, a No. 9 and why this Siena team has something last year’s team was lacking; depth.

With Rossiter and fellow sophomore Clarence Jackson emerging into big-time players and the maturation of freshman Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot, this year’s Siena team can go nine players deep.

“I think we can definitely go deeper on the bench (than last season),” Rossiter said. “Josh (Duell) is back, so that will help us down low and I think more guys can contribute at any moment this year.”

Rossiter has posted nine double-doubles this season and leads the team, averaging 7.8 rebounds per game, while Jackson, who earned MAAC Sixth Player of the Year honors, has posted double-digit scoring efforts nine times, including a career-high 28 points against Saint Joseph’s.

“Ryan really got it going early on,” Jackson said. “Then, I fell into it in midseason. Coach (Fran McCaffery) just lets us go out there and play. I think he sees stuff in us and playing is only going to make us both better players.”

Jackson has done a good job filling the role of graduated senior Tay Fisher, who was instant offense off the bench, especially in the huge upset of Vanderbilt.

“You think about his production per minute played and he might be number one in the country,” McCaffery said. “Eight points per game in 14 minutes, I don’t know if anybody does that.”

If Jackson played 31 minutes, or the average of the Siena starters this season, he’d be averaging more than 17 points per game.

“We only lost Tay last year and we got more scorers with me and Kyle and Josh coming off the bench,” Jackson said. “We’re a very deep team. There’s no selfishness, everyone is able to gel and we’re able to be successful.”

Downey and Wignot have both had good games already this year and showed they’re capable of contributing in big situations.

Downey practically won the game at Marist back in January, with a career-high 15 points and two huge 3-pointers in the final 47 seconds of regulation, while Wignot didn’t miss a shot (6-6) in the three games at the MAAC Tournament.

“I don’t know if you can prepare yourself for what they’re walking into,” said McCaffery about his freshman playing in the NCAA Tournament. “You want them to enjoy it, but understand that we need both of them on Friday night.”

The Saints won’t be flying under the radar this time around after what happened last March in Tampa, Fla., but the added depth should help them out against their first round opponent Ohio State.

“With the emergence of Clarence, myself coming off the bench as a senior and some good freshman that are ready to play at any moment, I think that helps us a lot,” said Duell, a senior co-captain.

Rossiter, who has moved into Duell’s starting role this season, is trying to make sure he doesn’t take both he and his teams successes for granted.

“Not too many people get a chance to play in one NCAA Tournament, but to play in two in a row is great,” said Rossiter

I just arrived at the Siena shootaround before tonight's championship game. 

The Saints are shooting and walking through things, even Josh Duell, who has a Niagara purple colored bruise on his entire left leg. 

Apparently Duell will be ready to go tonight and he's participating, but fellow captain Kenny Hasbrouck is not. 

Hasbrouck is wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants and sitting in the bench area, watching his team go through drills. 

When I got here he had his right leg elevated on another seat, but now he's got two feet on the ground. 

I'll have more on Hasbrouck around 4:15 after the practice is complete. 

Siena senior co-captain Josh Duell still has a large bruise on his left calf, but he seemed optimistic at the very least that he will play in this weekend's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament. 

"If my legs not getting cut off, I'm going to play," Duell said. 

Duell's basketball career is winding down and I can't see the Scotia native not getting out on the floor for his last few games. 

"I think Josh is going to play," Siena coach Fran McCaffery said. "I'm fairly certain. The question is how effective he'll be."

Duell said he's getting better every day, but wouldn't practice Tuesday and may not on Wednesday. 

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I got a chance to ask junior point guard Ronald Moore what he thought about being named to the MAAC All-Conference Second Team. 

"It's definitely a great accomplishment for me to make the Second Team," Moore said. "Also having Edwin (Ubiles) and Kenny (Hasbrouck) being on the First Team it says a lot about our team. We have a lot of weapons and a lot of great players."

Despite being nominated for the Bob Cousy Award earlier this season, an award for the nation's top point guard, Moore hadn't been recognized in his first two years by the MAAC. 

I also had a chance to ask Moore about teammate Ryan Rossiter, who was the only starter on the Saints that was not named to a an all-conference team.  

"Ryan's not worried about it at all," Moore said. "He definitely wants to win the championship more than anything and that's how I looked my first two years as well."

CBS 6 Sports Director Doug Sherman, who is calling the Siena/Niagara game on Friday night, reports that Siena senior co-captain Josh Duell injured his calf in Thursday's practice and his day-to-day, but the word is that Duell will miss the final two regular season games.

Duell has had a laundry list of injuries this season, including an Achilles injury, a black eye, a MCL/ACL sprain and now this.

Duell is averaging 2.4 points and and 1.9 rebounds in 17 games this season.

ALBANY - Josh Duell didn't exactly jump off the page at Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobsen as he prepared to take on Siena.

How could he?

Duell has missed the 10 of the last 13 games and was averaging just 2.0 points per game.

On Saturday, in the Saints 81-75 victory over the Panthers, Duell finished with eight points, five assists and a rebound in 21 minutes.

“He really hurt us today because he has such a good feel for how to play,” Jacobsen said.

Duell said he just wanted to get back out there and try to help out.

“I think I thrived on driving and kicking to Kenny (Hasbrouck), Eddie (Ubiles) or Ronald (Moore) for open shots because the big guy didn’t come out and guard me that much,” Duell said.

Duell's impact was even bigger because of Northern Iowa's size and the foul trouble Ryan Rossiter was in.

“The key to was he gave us great minutes when Rossiter was in foul trouble,” Siena coach Fran McCaffery said.

McCaffery said he thought Duell would make a big impact down the stretch and he was right on this night.

“It’s great to see him contributing this way,” McCaffery said. “He deserves that.”

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The biggest shot of the night wasn't one from Siena or Northern Iowa - Cohoes native Brendan Bradt hit a half-court shot in the second half, which you can view above, for $25,000 from the folks at Northeastern Fine Jewelery.

“That was amazing,” sophomore Clarence Jackson said. “I saw it go in the air and turned around and saw everybody cheering and I was happy for him.”

Bradt, 25, lives in Boston and said he was "pretty nervous" about just having one attempt.
Bradt played basketball at Cohoes High and then at Hudson Valley Community College.

"Fortunately it went in," Bradt said.

Bradt said he would put some of the money towards his student loans (I know how he feels), but that he would "drink a lot tonight, I'm not going to lie."

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Jacobsen is a big time backer of the Saints making it to the NCAA Tournament.

“I watched them play a number of games on film and watching them play, this is a team that should be in the NCAA Tournament,” Jacobsen said. “They have all of the firepower that they need and are extremely well-coached.”

Asked squarely should Siena be in the tournament, he went on to say this.

“Absolutely,” Jacobsen said. “Some people may say Northern Iowa — they didn’t play very well in the first half. This game isn’t the one — it’s what they’ve done to this point.”

ALBANY - Siena senior Kenny Hasbrouck (above, with his family) said it was the best game since Boise State.

Siena coach Fran McCaffery said there wasn't much more he could ask for and sophomore Clarence Jackson said the team executed on both offense and defense.

I guess that pretty much sums up an almost perfect Senior Night after a 93-69 romp over Manhattan on Thursday night.

Josh Duell returned, Erik Harris scored and oh yeah, Ryan Rossiter had EIGHT blocks.

"We ran the ball, we shared the ball and we got productivity from the bench," McCaffery said. "There's not much more I could ask."

Hasbrouck led the way, scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists.

"He's a tremendous player and every time he has the ball, I think he's going to score," said Duell, who added that it's "fun" watching Hasbrouck play.

"The beauty was how he just kept driving the ball," McCaffery said.

Duell played 12 minutes in returning to the floor after missing 10 games.

"I thought Josh looked good," McCaffery said. "He moved well."

Duell scored three points on 1-for-4 shooting, but 0-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"The first two felt pretty bad, but the third one, I thought was going in for sure," Duell said.

Adding Duell to the mix, gives the Saints another big man and another long-range threat, two things the definitely need for the stretch run.

"Josh is looking good," Hasbrouck said. "He was moving well without the ball. He was setting screens like he always does...It was great he came back today because even when he was on the floor, he spread it open."

It was a season-high in points and probably a season-high in smiles from the players as Siena thoroughly dominated on this night.

"It was a special night," Jackson said. "That introduction in the beginning, we were all happy for them and they all have worked hard to get to this point."

Before I touch on Josh Duell's status for this Saturday's Rider game, I have to mention that on top of getting four votes in this weeks Associated Press poll, the Saints are getting some other national attention.

A writer from Sports Illustrated was at the media luncheon today and is planning on attending the Rider game as well. 

Now on to Duell. 

Siena coach Fran McCaffery said that Duell is still not practicing and is unsure if he'll be ready for Saturday's game. 

Duell didn't travel to New Jersey for Monday's game against Saint Peter's. 

If you remember last year's game against Rider, Duell hit a 25-foot 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds let to defeat the Broncs 80-77. 

That's the shot that had people start calling him "Big Shot Josh."

Here's what McCaffery said about the fifth-year senior. 

"He's doing some things, shooting, but he's still not cutting and sprinting," McCaffery said. "We haven't tried to do anything in terms of explosion. Every day he's getting a little bit better. We were hoping Saturday would be the game that he could play, but I don't know if he'll play - that might be pushing it."

Duell, who was injured during the Kansas game on Jan. 6, when he was tangled up with teammate Kyle Downey and sprained both the MCL and ACL, has gotten better quicker than first anticipated, but he just can't take that last step. 

"He got a lot better real quick and then now he doesn't seem like he can play yet," McCaffery said. "We're hopeful that if it's not Rider, that it's Monday or Thursday."  

One day after Siena managed to stay unbeaten in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, coach Fran McCaffery talked about the last 20 seconds, when the Saints fell behind, went ahead and held on. 

After Gary Springer put Iona up one, McCaffery said he didn't want to stop the play. 

"My philosophy is you don't take a timeout - we just go," McCaffery said. "The reason you do that is you know what the defense is going to be, they're going to be in transition mode, they're going to be man-to-man and I got playmakers and we're going to attack. Now, Ronald (Moore) fumbles the ball, we dive on it, we call timeout and now we have to run a play. Normally, I don't want to call a play there, I want to make a play and I trust my guys to do that."

Even though the Siena bench didn't see much action in the second half, McCaffery told Clarence Jackson, Owen Wignot and Kyle Downey after the Niagara game that they needed more playing time.  

"If we're going to be a championship caliber team, you need a bench," McCaffery said.

McCaffery did say though that he sticking with his starters once Iona made the big run.

"Once it got to the point where you could tell it was going to go right down to the wire, I was pretty much going to stay with my guys, my starters," McCaffery said. 

McCaffery also said Tuesday that Wignot hurt his leg and wasn't able to go back in. 

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McCaffery said Tuesday that senior Josh Duell is on the way back to being ready to go. 

"In short order, we're going to have Josh back, so that will make us even more difficult to guard," McCaffery said. 

McCaffery said that he thinks it will be a quicker recovery than the one Duell underwent before the start of the season, when he was dealing with an Achilles injury. 

"I could be wrong," McCaffery said. "He's been doing a lot of work in the pool, he's doing a lot of stretching, he's a little thinner and he's been doing a lot of shooting."

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Junior Cory Magee still hasn't played in a game this year, but McCaffery said Tuesday that it's been figured out that Magee now is dealing with more complications from the preseason concussion and that he is have inner-ear issues. 

"All you want is for your student-athletes to be healthy," McCaffery said. "I'd love for him to be out there mixing it up and helping us win, but when you have somebody go through what he's going through, you just want him to be healthy and happy in his everyday life."

Magee will now decide if he wants to have surgery, but through it all, McCaffery says he's still kept a positive frame of mind. 

"He's kept it together academically and he's still an integral part of the team," McCaffery said. "He comes to practice, he's in the locker room, the kids love him, so he's impacted the team in a positive way." 

Siena senior co-captain Josh Duell had an MRI on Wednesday and the results were not terrible, but could have been better.

According to the preliminary reports, Duell has a Grade 2 MCL sprain and an ACL sprain (not tear) along with bone bruising in the area.

The prognosis is a three to six-week recovery period.

If this is the case, then

Duell collided with teammate Kyle Downey during the Kansas game on Tuesday night and has been on crutches since.

Here's what Siena coach Fran McCaffery said about the injury earlier today.

"I’m hopeful that it’s just a sprain (and we) can get that thing healed up and get him back on the floor. Obviously it’s a blow to our team, but when you have a guy like Josh Duell you feel really bad. You watch how hard he’s worked to overcome injuries he’s had, and now he’s playing great and having a lot of fun his senior year. I feel bad for him. I hope we can get him to the point where he can help us at some point."

The Saints play tomorrow night on ESPNU against Rider.

Overview: In my story in Tuesday's paper I talk about senior co-captain Josh Duell's connection with historic Allen Fieldhouse.

Duell played his first collegiate game at No. 1 Kansas when he was with the University of Vermont.

Duell and the Catamounts almost pulled off the upset too, losing 67-61.

His connection isn't the only. Junior forward Alex Franklin told me he's played against the Morris twins, Markeiff and Marcus, who are both from Philadelphia.

Obviously the Saints will have their hands full as they travel to Lawrence to take on the defending national champions.

Siena seems to have turned a corner since losing three games in four days at the Old Spice Classic in November.

Since then, they are 8-1 and the only loss comes to newly ranked No. 1 (and first time in school history) Pitt (14-0).

While the Jayhawks still aren't ranked and lost all five starters from last season's title-winning team, they are definitely one of the best teams Siena will play this season.

"For us, I look at it as a great opportunity to measure our ability to stay composed on the road," Siena coach Fran McCaffery said.

This should be a good one.

Records: Siena 10-4. Kansas 10-3

The Series: These two teams have never met.

Player to Watch: Cole Aldrich, sophomore Kansas. Aldrich is still young, but you wouldn't know it. He's averaging 14.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. On Saturday, he scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Tennessee. Aldrich is 6-11, but is athletic and could have a big day against whoever Siena has to play up front.

X-factor: 3-point shooting: You can't win big games without getting big shots. Siena's shooting just 29.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line. In their four losses, the Saints are shooting 20.3 percent (12-59) from downtown. To go on the road against a more-talented team and win, you need to hit big shots. Tay Fisher proved he could do that and while Siena still has players capable of doing just that, they haven't shown it so far this season in a big, close game.

Injury Report: At this point it seems like everyone on Siena could be in this category and we joked about holding our breath when going into the locker room after the Saint Peter's game.

Apparently Duell and Ryan Rossiter (stomach bug) both feel better and should be able to play. Erik Harris (knee) and Cory Magee (concussion) probably won't see action.

Prediction: Kansas 77, Siena 71 (Call me crazy, but I see this game being close. My record is 11-3)

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."

We're about 20 minutes from game time between Siena and Saint Peter's. 

The Saints are warming up minus Cory Magee, who's become a season-long spectator so far due to a preseason concussion.

They are also without Ryan Rossiter and Josh Duell, who are both apparently suffering from a stomach bug. 

Rossiter also has a sore ankle that he tweaked in the Holy Cross game on Tuesday, Dec. 30. 

It looks as sophomore Steven Priestley will be making his first career start.  

Overview: It's a return home for Siena coach Fran McCaffery and players Erik Harris, Ronald Moore, Alex Franklin and Clarence Jackson when the Saints take on Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

McCaffery grew up in Philly, played college ball there (at Penn) and even coached his first game at Siena there. Here's my story from today's paper on the game.

Here's what McCaffery had to say about the Big 5 (LaSalle, Penn, Villanova, Temple and Saint Joseph's).

"Within the Big 5, since I had no direct affiliation, you might have favored one team one year when they (had a player you liked)," McCaffery said. "I liked St. Joe’s when they had Danny Kelly and guys like that. And Villanova had some really good players and I liked some of those Villanova teams. LaSalle had some really good teams. And those Penn teams in the '70s were phenomenal – they just didn’t lose. The one year of course, they were 28-0 at the end of the regular-season and ended up losing to Villanova in the Eastern Regional Championship game. That was the beauty of it – you had five teams and they were all good. It would have been easy to say: "I like the two teams that are winning", but they were all winning – they all won 20 games and would go to the Tournament."

The Hawks have been a national staple out of the Atlantic-10 Conference in the 14 seasons under coach Phil Martelli, but this season they haven't won back-to-back games.

Saint Joseph's is coming off a 71-67 victory over Cornell on Dec. 22.

The Saints are playing their last couple of games before the new year (calendar that is), with this game and Tuesday's game at Holy Cross.

Siena is still looking to string some wins together, especially since they feel like they've let some non-conference situations get away from them.

The key for Siena will be replacing Tay Fisher's points from last year's game against Saint Joseph's. The senior scored 14 points and hit three 3-pointers.

The Saints have been struggling from beyond the arc (29.8 percent) this season.

Records: Siena 6-4. Saint Joseph's 5-5

The Series: Saint Joseph's leads the all-time series 2-1 and the Hawks won last year's meeting 74-68

Player to Watch: Ahmad Nivins, senior Saint Joseph's. Nivins averages 19.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game so far for the Hawks. Nivins burned the Saints last year with 20 points and shutting him down will be key if Siena is to come out of the city of Brotherly Love with a win.

X-factor: Josh Duell, senior Siena. Duell seems to step up in these types of games and the way he's come around lately after dealing with that Achilles injury from the beginning of the year has been very promising. Duell is only averaging 2.1 points per game and he only scored two points last season against the Hawks when they had a player by the name of Pat Calathes. Watch Duell spread the Saint Joseph's defense and make a difference tomorrow.

Injury Report: Siena junior Cory Magee (concussion) still hasn't played this season and we'll see if this will be the game where he finally makes his return from a preseason injury.

Prediction: Siena 67, Saint Joseph's 66 (This is the first game this season where I'm really unsure of how things will play out. This should be a good one though. My record is 8-2)

ALBANY - Siena senior co-captain Josh Duell was pretty pleased with the way he played Monday night in the Saints' 77-60 victory over MAAC rival Marist.

"I felt good shooting and good running up and down the court," said Duell, who hit two 3-pointers and played 17 minutes.

This rivalry is special for Duell, whose freshman year roommate at the University of Vermont, Ryan Schneider is on the other side, wearing Marist red and white.

Duell told me earlier in the week that it's been hard for Schneider, who has played for four coaches in five seasons (Tom Brennan and Mike Lonergan at Vermont and Matt Brady and Chuck Martin at Marist) to find a rhythm.

Schneider was apparently throwing up on the bus on the way up to Albany for this evening's game, but that didn't slow him too much.

The red-shirt senior finished with team-highs in points (11) and rebounds (7).

“He’s a tough kid,” Duell said. “He’ll do whatever he has to do to play basketball, that’s how he’s always been.”

Duell said that Brennan, who was part of the 5,351 in the crowd tonight helped him with his shot as did older brother Rob, who got to get on the floor tonight, too.

The eldest Duell took part in the Northeastern Fine Jewelry contest and showed off his stroke, making a couple of three's and then knocking one down from NBA range to rack up what I thought was $280 (I wasn't quite sure of the exact total).

Josh had a tough time keeping a straight face on the sideline even though Siena was trailing 53-51 at the time.

“He taught me the stroke,” the younger Duell said. “He was always a good shooter in high school and I never was in high school."

Rob played basketball at Niskayuna High School and then played baseball at Sacred Heart University, while Josh played prep ball at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie.

As for Josh's key for the 20-2 run to end the game.

“I think we just picked up our energy level,” Duell said.

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Sophomore forward Ryan Rossiter said he was pretty much back to 100 percent before tonight's game, he just didn't have the energy he needed in the first half.

“I just didn’t have it early on,” Rossiter said. “He (Coach Fran McCaffery) asked me if I was all right and I told him I was fine.”

Rossiter said he gave it his all for McCaffery in the second half.

“He’s the most honest coach I’ve every played for,” Rossiter said. “He told me, straight up, I wasn’t bringing it and I took it personal and tried to go out there and give him everything he needed.”

Rossiter did add that he would "live" in the training room for the eight days Siena has off (at least while he's not taking finals).

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Junior forward Alex Franklin led the way tonight with 22 points and eight rebounds.

I asked Franklin after the game is the fact that anybody can have a big night (i.e. four different leading scorers so far this season) the main reason why the Saints are so hard to play against.

“That’s why I love being on this team,” Franklin responded. “We’re so deep that any given night, somebody can go off.”

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As for the 20-2 run to end the game and 16-0 run to break it wide open, I asked senior co-captain Kenny Hasbrouck what he thought about holding the Red Foxes to two points over the final 11:06.

“I didn’t know that,” Hasbrouck responded. "I'm just out there playing."

Overview: Cornell and Siena both went to the NCAA Tournament last season and they are both pretty heavily favored to do so again in 2008-09.

The Big Red posted an 83-77 victory last season, while putting five players in double figures.

Louis Dale led the way with 20 points and both Ryan Wittman and Collin Robinson scored 14.

Alex Franklin led the way for Siena with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Edwin Ubiles added 17 and Kenny Hasbrouck scored 16.

The Big Red has beat South Dakota (79-69) and Loyola (Md.) (82-72) and loss to St. John's (86-75).

Records: Siena 1-0. Cornell 2-1

The Series: Series is tied 1-1. Cornell won last season 83-77. Siena won in 1985, 70-55 in the Siena Invitational Tournament.

Player to Watch: Ryan Wittman, junior Cornell. Wittman, who is the son of former NBA player and current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Randy Wittman, is averaging 24.7 points through three games. ESPN's Fran Fraschilla placed Wittman as No. 10 on his list of Top 10 shooters in the country along with Davidson's Stephen Curry, Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney, Miami's Jack McClinton (former Siena player) and Rhode Island's Jimmy Barron amongst others.

X-Factor: Jeff Foote, senior Cornell. Foote has never played against the Saints because he transferred from St. Bonaventure. Currently, he is averaging 15.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game. If Foote can stay with Siena's fast-paced tempo than he could make a difference. If the Saints can run him off of the floor, it will be to their advantage.

Injury Note: Siena senior Josh Duell has practiced all but one day this week and plans on playing. He's been swimming to get his endurance back and also is wearing a heel lift to keep the Achilles straight.

"Hopefully I don’t foul like I did last game, so I can stay in longer," Duell joked about playing only three minutes against Boise State and picking up three fouls.

For Cornell, Louis Dale (hamstring) is doubtful, while fellow All-Ivy guard Adam Gore (knee) is out until January.

Prediction: Siena 81, Cornell 68 (I don't think the Big Red will come out on top this time around)

I can't believe it's only one day before the beginning of the college basketball season (I don't consider Duke beating Presbyterian the start of the year and I know UCLA goes for 2-0 tonight on ESPNU).

Man, that snuck up on us.

Anyway, since the University at Albany kicks off their season against Villanova, the team that ended Siena's season last year, I decided to ask some of the Saints at Wednesday's practice if they could give the Great Danes one tip of advice for facing the Wildcats.

Here's what they had to say.

"Bring it," junior guard/forward Edwin Ubiles said. "They are one of the top schools. They're bigger guys, stronger guys, quicker, faster and athletic, so they just have to bring it, be ready and focused."

"Really take these guys seriously because they are one of the top programs in the country and they're going to come with everything they've got," junior forward Alex Franklin said. "If you don't come hard, they're really going to try and walk all over you."

"Definitely contain Scottie Reynolds," junior guard Ronald Moore said. "Everything goes through him and keep their big guys off the glass because they do attack the glass hard. Definitely control Scottie Reynolds. If you stop him, you have a great chance of winning."

"You have to match their intensity," senior co-captain Josh Duell said. "Villanova plays that style where they get up in you right away. They box you out, they hit you, foul you seven times in one possession and it doesn't get called. They have to be ready and keep the intensity up."

An aside for Siena fans, Duell says his foot is getting better. He didn't practice Wednesday and I'd be surprised to see him suit up on Monday night, but here's what he had to say.

"I'm starting to be able to get back into practice a little bit. No contact stuff, but just starting running and trying to get in shape," Duell said.

As for a return to the floor, Duell wasn't sure when he'd be back practicing.

"I hope as soon as possible," Duell said. "It's all up to what the trainers said. I'm at the mercy of them, but if I had my choice, I'd be back as soon as possible."

Could Siena have just avoided the first chink in their armor?

The Saints have the talent to repeat as MAAC champions and return to the NCAA Tournament, but something like injuries are the things that will slow them down.

They may have avoided the first scare this week as senior forward Josh Duell had a MRI on his left Achilles' tendon this morning that came back negative.

While that makes it seem less severe, the school also announced that there is no timetable for his return and he will be "out a while." He is also on crutches.

Duell hurt the foot during Sunday's practice when he landed on the foot of teammate Ryan Rossiter.

Duell also won't practice until he has time to rehabilitate, but there is still time before the season opener, Monday, Nov. 17 vs. Boise State.

Okay...so to say the Siena men's basketball team needed a couple of hours so the media could meet with them is probably far-fetched.

After a terrific season last year, the public knows a lot about this team and so do we.

Still though, there we were, one day before practice was to begin and we did actually learn some things (believe it or not).

First things first, a little baseball.

Junior point guard Ronald Moore (a native of Conshohocken, Pa.) was very happy with the Philadelphia Phillies taking down the Dodgers on Wednesday night and advancing to their first World Series since 1993.

“Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to make a game,” Moore said. “I’m definitely watching and tuned in and having a lot of fun with these New York Yankees and New York Mets fans.”

Head coach Fran McCaffery, himself a native of the Philadelphia area, said he couldn't be happier with the Phils.

“I am fired up about the Phillies,” said McCaffery, who added that he went to games when they played at Connie Mack Stadium when he was little. “This team I really enjoy, in particular.”

McCaffery said with the timing of the college basketball season, he can't really follow a NFL or NBA team, so baseball is what keeps his rooting interests. He takes his kids to games and they are big Phillies fans.

“How could you not love this team the way they play?” McCaffery said.

McCaffery said he is going to try to lock up World Series tickets, but he wasn't sure if he could get any.

I was told that Moore and junior Alex Franklin (a native of Reading, Pa.) are the lone Phillies fans on the team.

Back to basketball....

While practice begins in 21 hours as I write this, some of the Siena players are dinged up. Franklin spent time at home with an illness (keep reading), senior co-captain Kenny Hasbrouck is having some back problems, co-captain Josh Duell is still recovering from a groin pull that occurred before the Italy trip and junior Edwin Ubiles has been out for a week and a half with a pulled muscule in his back, but they will all be ready to go tomorrow night.

“It’s bothering me a little bit still, but I’m pretty healthy,” Duell said. “Ever since we’ve got back (from Italy), I’ve been going fine.”

“I should be ready for tomorrow,” Ubiles added.

The story with Franklin is a little more complicated.

Franklin went home for two weeks, earlier this year, after catching a bad case of strep throat. It was the first time he's had it and he lost almost 15 pounds.

"The main thing I was worried about was my endurance and I'm getting it back by conditioning," Franklin said. "I think it's all coming back to me. I'm getting my strength back. I'm in good shape right now."

Still, his teammates were ready to give it to Franklin when he returned to campus.

"They call me Mr. Slim," Franklin said with a smile. "As soon as I walked in, they asked what size shirts I wear, extra small or medium. The jokes have been coming, but they see I'm working hard in the weight room and getting it back."

It continued on Thursday when McCaffery said Franklin might be playing shooting guard this season because of the lost weight.

Franklin said he'll be ready for the first practice.

"I'm always ready," said Franklin, who's already gained back six pounds. "I'm going to be ready to go."

I also asked Alex about his back, which sidelined him for a couple games, including the Memphis game last year.

"The back was the least of my worries," Franklin said.

The biggest negative in the Saints game last season was rebounding. McCaffery thought that was solved when he signed 6-foot-9 Wolfgang Geiler from Germany, but he left Siena, deciding to try his hand at a professional career instead.

So, who steps up for the Saints this season after they were -4.3 rebounds per game, a year ago.

“If he does what he did in Italy, he would be the guy,” said McCaffery of sophomore Ryan Rossiter. “He was a rebounding machine over there. I think he really focused on that taking care of that part of what was problematic for us last year.”

McCaffery will also be looking for others to step up in that role.

Josh Duell's career will come full-circle in a way on Jan. 6 when Siena takes on defending national champion Kansas.

Duell's first game of his college career was at Allen Fieldhouse, when he suited up for the University of Vermont.

Looking up the box score, Duell played 22 minutes, scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.

Oh, and the Catamounts had a 58-56 lead over the No. 1 Jayhawks with three minutes to go, but fell 68-61.

“It was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been too,” Duell said. “It’ll be nice to get back there again, being one of the senior guys, who say don’t worry about this arena.”

I'll end this enormously long blog entry about a newcomer, freshman Kyle Downey.

I've heard now on two accounts that Downey is a very hard worker, first from Kenny Hasbrouck at the Sneak Preview and Thursday, McCaffery said it again when introducing the team.

In fact, McCaffery went as far as saying he's the hardest working kid that he has ever met.

Big words indeed.

“He works out three times a day,” McCaffery said. “You can’t get him out of the gym.”

That's a good sign.

I'll be making stops at both UAlbany and Siena practice tomorrow as college hoops heat up as the temperature goes down in the Capital District.

The Siena basketball team kicked off their season with a function downtown and an introduction of the players for both the women's and men's basketball teams.

The Saints, who were the preseason No. 1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last year, surely will be again and senior captain Kenny Hasbrouck will almost surely be the preseason Player of the Year in the conference.

Hasbrouck, who along with fellow senior Josh Duell are the two captains, was asked on Monday if he feels like a senior now.

“I feel like I’ve been here for eight years,” Hasbrouck responded. “I feel like I’m getting old. I came here the summer before my freshman year and everybody on campus keeps saying, ‘oh, you’re still here.’”

Siena coach Fran McCaffery introduced his team, including newcomers Owen Wignot, Kyle Downey and walk-on Connor Fenlon (Fenlon's father Joe is a friend of McCaffery and allowed Siena to practice at Tampa Prep during their time in Tampa at the NCAA Tournament in March).

Fenlon did average six points a game and seven assists last year for his father and the Terrapins of Tampa Prep.

Here's what a couple of the veterans said about some of the new guys.

“They’re hard workers and they know there are very high expectations,” junior point guard Ronald Moore said. “There’re getting a sense of how the community and the fans are behind us. They’re excited and as long as they work hard, they’ll find their way.”

“Owen is a great athlete,” Hasbrouck said. “He’s a running rebounder. I think he has to adjust to the college level a little better and has to gain a little weight. I think Kyle Downey is ready right away. He’s real crafty, like his brother, who played for Canisius (that's Kevin Downey). I think he’s more athletic and a little quicker. He’s focused and he works harder than anyone on the team, including myself. He’s in the gym every day, sometimes two times a day.”

Also, Hasbrouck was asked about sophomore Ryan Rossiter, who made waves of progress in Italy during the team's summer trip and seems poised for a big year.

“He hasn’t been a surprise,” Hasbrouck said. “He’s just showing his potential.”

Also, McCaffery mentioned that Erik Harris is now on full-scholarship and he said that this season, Harris' jersey will have his name on it, which it didn't last season.

Look for more in Tuesday's paper.