Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro delivers his postgame comments following an 80-57 loss to Loyola (Md.) on Saturday evening.

J.S. Carras/The Record

ALBANY - Rob Poole has struggled mightily the past two games for Siena.

The sophomore guard, who seemed to be a rising star in the league, has now scored three points total in the past two games.

“I think in the second half of the conference (schedule), they have him pretty well scouted now," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

The Saints did try to run some things for Poole, but it didn't work as he finished 0-2 from the floor and sat out for nearly the game's final 14 minutes, along with senior O.D. Anosike.

“I just have to be more aggressive I think," he said, following the 80-57 loss to Loyola (Md.), in the locker room.

Poole noticed that teams were guarding him differently when the Saints made the Buffalo trip, back in mid-January.

“I need to expand my game, get stronger, I guess and just try to get better," he said. 

Poole is still a very solid player, as evidenced by opposing coach Jimmy Patsos' postgame comments.

“Poole's a really good player, but Bobby (Robert Olson) did a great job defending him," said Patsos. 

Olson scored 20 points and knocked down four 3-pointers and is one of the top veteran guards in the league, which is one day where Poole could be.

“Our Bobby Olson is Poole," said Patsos. 

When Poole was told of the comparison, he seemed to appreciate it. 

“I'll be honest, I hate playing against him," Poole said. "But he's a good player.”

ALBANY - There's not much positive coming out of this one for Siena.

The Saints saw their senior star argue with the coach and lost to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference by largest margin since 1994.

O.D. Anosike and coach Mitch Buonaguro got into it in the second half and it resulted in Anosike sitting for nearly the final 14 minutes. Trenity Burdine scored a team-high points for Siena (4-12, 6-21).

Dylon Cormier led all scorers with 24 points for Loyola (11-5, 19-9).

ALBANY - The Siena men's basketball team got off to a dreadful start on Saturday evening.

The Saints had 10 turnovers before 10 minutes had elapsed, but a little run at the end of the half as them within eight, 37-29, at intermission.

Loyola (Md.) started shooting great from long distance and is being led by guard Dylon Cormier, who has 10 points.

O.D. Ansoike had eight points and four rebounds and Davis Martens has provided a spark off the bench with two big dunks.

Siena is shooting 50 percent (9-18) from the field, so if that continues, it should be a good second half.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Siena's resilient team met its match on Sunday evening.

Loyola knocked off the Saints for the third time this season and punched its ticket to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, with a 70-60 victory, at MassMutual Center.

The Greyhounds (23-8) will face Fairfield (19-13), which upset Iona, earlier in the day, on Monday evening, for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Loyola knocked down seven 3-pointers, five of which came in the second half, as they pulled away.

Loyola was led by Erik Etherly, who scored a game-high 21 points and Shane Walker and Robert Olson each chipped in 12.

The Saints (14-17) shorthanded all season, played only six players, but were still a tough out. 

Kyle Downey led the way for Siena, scoring 17 points, while Owen Wignot added 16.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It was a pretty even first half, by all accounts.

Neither Siena or Loyola played its best, but the game was back and forth throughout the first half.

The Saints started slowly, falling behind 4-0, but rattled off 11 points jump back into it.

The Greyhounds turned things around, got the lead and held it for the last few minutes of the half.

Owen Wignot leads Siena with seven points, while Shane Walker has seven points for the Greyhounds and Erik Etherly added six. 

One team is just 20 minutes from advancing to Monday's championship game, against Fairfield. The Stags upset Iona, 85-75, getting 26 points and 12 rebounds from All-MAAC selection Rakim Sanders.

Here are two videos from the Siena Athletic Department, from last night's xx-xx loss, at Loyola (Md.)

Here is a link to our story, from stringer Harvey Valentine.

J.S. Carras/The Record

Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro worried about two things earlier this week - a lack of bodies and fullcourt pressure defense.

Buonaguro has wondered (aloud) a couple times this season why opposing teams aren't pressing them. On Saturday, Manhattan pressed them and the result was not good for Siena.

This game also does not play into the Saints' favor because Loyola likes to get up and down and plays a lot of different players.

On the road, this is not a good matchup for Siena and if they are able to pick up a win, it would be huge, with Iona waiting in the wings.

For the first time since the start of the season, OD Anosike is now the leading scorer, surpassing freshman Evan Hymes.

Anosike still has a streak of 13 straight double-doubles, which he will look to build on.

SIENA AT LOYOLA (MD)

When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Reitz Arena (2,100) Baltimore, Md. 
Radio: TALK — AM 1300 (Robert Lee, Tom Huerter)
2011-12 Records: Siena (3-4, 8-9) Loyola (5-2, 12-5)
Last Meeting: Loyola 76, Siena 69, at Times Union Center, Albany, Feb. 7, 2011 — Siena leads the all-time series 37-15

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
SIENA

No.    Name    Pos.    Yr.    Ht.    Ppg.
5    Evan Hymes    G    Fr.    5-8     14.7
3    Kyle Downey    G    Sr.    6-2    12.9
31    Owen Wignot    F    Sr.    6-6     5.3
1    OD Anosike    F    Jr.    6-8    14.8
0    Brandon Walters    F    Sr.    6-8     6.4

LOYOLA (MD)

No.    Name    Pos.    Yr.    Ht.    Ppg.
12    R.J. Williams    G    Fr.    5-8    3.9
3    Dylon Cormier    G    So.    6-2    15.5 
25    Robert Olson    G    Jr.    6-4    10.4
24    Erik Etherly    F    Jr.    6-7     12.2
5    Shane Walker    F    Sr.    6-10     9.5 

MAAC STANDINGS

School    Conference    Overall
Iona    6-1    14-4
Loyola (Md.)    5-2    12-5
Manhattan    5-2     12-7
Fairfield     4-3    9-9
Siena     3-4    8-9
Niagara    3-4    8-11
Rider     3-4    6-13
St. Peter’s    3-4    4-14
Marist    2-5    7-11
Canisius    1-6    4-13

Today’s Schedule

Fairfield at St. Peter’s    7 p.m.
Siena at Loyola (Md.)     7:30 p.m.
Niagara at Canisius     8:30 p.m.

Friday’s Schedule

Manhattan at Marist, 9 p.m.
Rider at Iona (ESPNU), 10 p.m.

Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro talks about the 66-59 loss to Loyola (Md.) on Saturday.



Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos gives his opening remarks. The Greyhounds (2-0, 6-1) are off to the best start in the 30 years as a Division I program.

Below are highlights from Saturday night's Siena/Loyola (Md.), courtesy of the Siena Athletics Department.

ALBANY - Siena dropped its fifth straight game on Saturday night, but it wasn't for lack of effort.

The Saints fell behind by double-digits, clawed back and ended up on the short end of the stick against a very talented Loyola team.

Evan Hymes scored a team-high 21 points and O.D. Anosike added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Saints (0-2, 2-5). 

Dylon Cormier scored a career-high 22 points and knocked down five 3-pointers for the Greyhounds (2-0, 6-2), who are off to their best starting in their Division I history.

Siena turned the ball over 20 times, as Loyola had 19 steals.

The Saints cut the lead to six on four different occasions, in the second half, but couldn't get over the hump.

ALBANY - The Siena men's basketball team fell behind early again and had a tough time offensively in the first half.

The Saints have now been held to fewer than 20 points in the first half of both conference games so far this year.

Dylon Cormier was on fire for the Greyhounds. Cormier hit four 3-pointers and had a 3-point play to finish the first 20 minutes with 15 points. Cormier hit four of the team's six 3-pointers in the first half.

It looked like the Saints would be left for dead, but the Greyhounds went the final four minutes, without scoring.  

O.D. Anosike leads Siena with six points and eight rebounds.

Siena needs to pick things up offensively or this will be a long second half and and 0-2 start to the league season.

J.S. Carras/The Record

Siena has a difficult task ahead of them on Saturday evening.

Loyola (Md.) has won five games in a row and is off to one of the best starts in the school's 30-year Division I history.

The Saints are hoping to get back senior Owen Wignot, who has missed five consecutive games, due to a head injury suffered against Navy. (Wignot was injured on the play to the left, when he collided with Navy's James Loupos)

The Saints certainly don't want to fall to 0-2 in league play.

Below is a capsule for the game, which will also be televised on Time Warner-3.

Loyola (Md) at Siena

When: Tonight 7 p.m.
Where: Times Union Center (8,444), Albany
TV: Time Warner-3 (Robert Lee, Tom Huerter)
Radio: TALK 1300-AM (Andrew Catalon, Andy Grazulis)
Records: Siena (0-1 MAAC, 2-4 overall. Loyola (1-0 MAAC, 5-1 overall)
Last Meeting: Loyola 76, Siena 69 at Times Union Center. Albany, on Feb. 7, 2011 — Siena leads the all-time series 37-14
About the Greyhounds: Loyola has matched its best start in the program’s Division I history, which began in 1981-82 season. The Greyhounds have also won five games in a row, since losing their season opener, Nov. 11, at Wake Forest. Loyola was picked to finish third in the MAAC preseason poll.
About the Saints: The Saints lead the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 60 points per game. The 44 points that Siena scored in two of its last three games, is the lowest total since the 1997 MAAC tournament. The Saints last five-game losing streak came during the 2004-05 season. 

 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

LOYOLA (MD)

No        Name     Pos.    Yr.    Ht.    Ppg.
12        R.J. Williams    G     Fr.     5-8     4.0
3         Dylon Cormier    G    So.    6-2    16.3
25        Robert Olson     G    Jr.    6-4    7.2
24         Erik Etherly     F     Jr.    6-7    15.5
5         Shane Walker    F    Sr.    6-10     12.5

SIENA

No        Name     Pos.    Yr.    Ht.    Ppg.
5        Evan Hymes    G     Fr.    5-8    12.8
24        Davonte Beard     G     Fr.     6-2    6.5
3        Kyle Downey    G    Sr.    6-2    11.3
1        O. D. Anosike    F     Jr.    6-8    9.7
0        Brandon Walters     C    Sr.    6-8    8.2

Junior forward O.D. Anosike talks about the upcoming game against Loyola (Md.).

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."

With Siena's loss to Iona on Friday, they are staring at the play-in round, with four conference games to play.

The only thing positive was that Loyola (Md.) lost to Niagara, keeping them just one game ahead of the Saints.

Here are the rest of the league matchups for those three teams.

Loyola (Md.) (8-6)
vs. Canisius
vs. Rider
@ Niagara
@ Canisius

Canisius (7-7)
@ Loyola
@ Niagara
vs. Manhattan
vs. Loyola

Siena (7-7)
@ Manhattan
vs. Saint Peter's
@ Fairfield
vs. Marist

I think Siena will go 9-9 and they could possibly go 10-8.

Loyola has the tougher schedule with a game against Rider upcoming.

But if the Greyhounds and Golden Griffins split, they could both end up 10-8 and the Saints would finish in seventh place and in the play-in round.

It could all come down to Loyola playing Canisius on the final night of the season.

ALBANY - Ryan Rossiter was breaking program records and single-handedly outrebounding Loyola (Md.).

Siena was cruising along, again playing without key pieces, but somehow maintaining a lead and then something happened.

Just like that the Saints fell behind and fell into sixth place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings, losing to the Greyhounds 76-69.

The Saints didn't play their best game on Monday night, but they played all right - until the final five minutes.

The Greyhounds snatched the lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Justin Drummond and it seemed like the game ended just as quickly.

“We have to a better job of pushing our leads and building on them, as opposed to giving them back up,” said senior Ryan Rossiter.

Rossiter scored 23 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, but the rest of the team struggled.

Siena shot okay without Rossiter's 9-for-20, going 19-for-47 (40.4%), but again, when it came time for someone else to make a basket, no one did.

“It's frustrating watching, sometimes, Ryan do it by himself,” said fellow senior Clarence Jackson, who shot just 2-for-12.

Still, the Saints led 58-50 with 12:12 remaining and scored just 11 points the rest of the way.

“It's very frustrating,” Jackson said. “We had the game right on the ropes.”

After falling behind 69-65 with 3:21 to play, the next points didn't come until 36 seconds remained, after Siena finally fouled.

“Instinctively, we should have fouled,” said sophomore Jonathan Breeden, who played a season-high 23 minutes, after Rakeem Brookins went down with an injury. “I think we were trying to gamble for a steal first.”

The Greyhounds avenged a 17-point loss to the Saints, which was probably Siena's best all-around game of the season, only a 11 days ago.

“They had the loss in their mind,” Rossiter said. “They wanted to come out and prove something tonight and they definitely did.”

ALBANY - Loyola (Md.) coach Jimmy Patsos is usually a media favorite.

His love for the city of Albany should have him on mayor Jerry Jennings' good list.

Patsos has said numerous times that he thinks the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament should be held in Albany because it's the best place for it.

“For once in my life, I'm not going to say what I think,” Patsos said, after his team's 76-69 victory over Siena on Monday evening. “I love this town and I love this building and hopefully someday we'll be back in this building in March.”

Patsos is one of the most outspoken coaches in the MAAC and probably the entire country.

His antics are pretty wide-ranging, from double teaming Davidson guard Stephen Curry for an entire game or sitting in the stands, after a call he disagreed with.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor was in the building on Monday night, but he departed before the press conferences began.

Remember, the tournament will be held in Bridgeport, Conn., this season and then in Springfield the next three years.

Patsos was very complimentary of Siena senior Ryan Rossiter, saying that he feels like Rossiter could be a second round selection in the NBA Draft.

He called Rossiter a "terminator" going after the ball and there's always a spot for a guy like that on an NBA roster.

He also said it's obvious from an opposing coach standpoint that senior Clarence Jackson isn't at 100 percent.

The Boston native said, you think of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, but Rossiter's partner in crime isn't at full strength.

“All of a sudden, Rossiter's out there as a one-man wrecking crew,” Patsos said.

Patsos knows that, at full strength Siena is very dangerous and the three-time defending champions won't give up their crown that easily.

“You wait, Siena's going to be there,” he said.

ALBANY - That was a disappointing end for the Saints.

Loyola scored 15 of the game's final 23 points and also finished the game on a 26-11 run to take a critical conference showdown.

Ryan Rossiter did about everything he could for Siena, scoring a game-high 23 points, grabbing a game-high 20 rebounds and also dishing out five assists.

Rossiter also became the program's all-time leading rebounder, early in the second half when he grabbed his 13th rebound and put it back in for a bucket.

Rossiter currently has 1,045 career boards.

The Saints really had trouble scoring late, making just one field goal in the game's final five minutes.

The Greyhounds were led by Erik Etherly, who led five players in double figures, with 15 points.

ALBANY - Siena and Loyola are engaged in a very entertaining, very high-flying first half.

Rakeem Brookins and Robert Olson dominated the first portion of the first half, each scoring eight points quickly for their respective teams.

Loyola shot 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field, while Siena was 15-for-35 (42.9 percent).

Olson had 10 points at intermission to lead the Greyhounds.

Brookins finished the half with 11, but went to the locker room early, after taking a charge from Brian Rudolph.

Ryan Rossiter has already grabbed 12 rebounds to tie Lee Matthews ('93) for the school record of 1,037 career rebounds.

Rossiter also has eight points and four assists.