The Siena men's basketball program will soon be hanging another number from the rafters.

The school announced today that Fred Shear (Class of 1973) will have his No. 50 retired, on Dec. 29, at halftime of the Saints game vs. La Salle.

Shear will join Marc Brown (#4), Billy Harrell (#10) and Kenny Hasbourck (#41) as the four players to have their jersey retired by Siena.

"Clearly this is a great individual honor and one that I most graciously accept," Shear said. "It is also a tremendous team honor. It speaks volumes about the type of teammates and coaches I had from 1969-73."

Shear is a graduate of Waterford-Halfmoon High School and holds the second highest career scoring average (20.3 ppg) in program history and the fifth career rebounding average (9.5 rpg). Shear was the first two-time All-American in Siena history, earning Associated Press Honorable Mention recognition in both 1972 and 1973.

Shear played only three varsity season (due to the NCAA freshman rule), but still ranks 12th all-time, with 1,400 career points and 15th all-time with 658 rebounds. He held the career scoring record for 14 years, prior to the introduction of the 3-point line.

Shear was the captain of Coach Bill Kirsch's first team at Siena. In addition to the Siena Hall of Fame, Shear is a member of the Waterford-Halfmoon High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame.

LOUDONVILLE - Before Wednesday's practice at the ARC, Ryan Rossiter was asked about the possibility to be named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

“I don’t really care,” he said. “My main goal is a championship. That’s all I’m focused on. It’d be great if I went down there (Bridgeport, Conn.) tomorrow and I won it, but that doesn’t change my mindset or how I think when I’m entering the tournament.”

He would be the fifth Siena player to win the award and the third consecutive Saints player, following Kenny Hasbrouck (2009-09) and Alex Franklin (2009-10). The other two are Doremus Bennerman (1993-94) and Marc Brown (1990-91).

Rossiter said it would be great to follow his former teammates and friends, Hasbrouck and Franklin.

“That’d be great company to have,” he said. “Kenny and Alex were tremendous players and two of my good friends, so following stride with them would be really important to me. If it happens, it happens. If not, so be it.”

The three-time defending champions begin their MAAC tournament play, Friday night, at 9:30 p.m., against No. 10 Manhattan.

The Saints have tried to remain positive, but now it's one loss and the season is over.

“We’re aware of that,” Rossiter said. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time.”

ALBANY - The Saints are playing pretty well.

Ryan Rossiter has a game-high 13 points and Clarence Jackson chipped in 11 in the first 20 minutes.

Greg Gantt led the Owls with seven points.

Marc Brown's No. 4 was retired at halftime and is hanging in the rafters, even with center court, in between Billy Harrell's No. 10 and Kenny Hasbrouck's No. 41.

LOUDONVILLE - Marc Brown is starting to realize what Monday's ceremony will mean to him.

“Unbelievable,” said Brown on the phone on Wednesday. “Words can't describe it.”

Brown's No. 4 will hang from the rafters in downtown Albany, alongside No. 10 of Troy native Billy Harrell and the No. 41 of Kenny Hasbrouck.

Brown, who was known by the nickname of "Showbiz" will have his number retired during halftime of Monday's Siena game against Florida Atlantic.

Look for our story on Brown in Monday's print edition and online at www.troyrecord.com.

Brown and his team from New Jersey City University will play against RPI at 5:30 p.m.

Brown is the all-time leading scorer in Siena history, with 2,284 points and is second all-time on the career assists list (behind Ronald Moore) and fourth all-time in steals.

“I think there are going to be a lot of fans that remember what he did for this program,” said Athletic Director John D'Argenio. “I think he'll get a great ovation. A lot of people will say, ‘It's about time,’ which it is, so it'll be very exciting.”

Brown is remembered by many Siena fans as the best player to ever suit up for the Green & Gold.

“He was one of the most exciting players to wear a Siena uniform,” said classmate, teammate and current Siena color commentator, Tom Huerter.

ALBANY - Siena senior Alex Franklin becomes the second straight and fourth player in school history to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year award.

Franklin joins Marc Brown (1990-91) and Doremus Bennerman (1993-94) along with former teammate Kenny Hasbrouck (2008-09) to win the award.

Here are the other postseason award winners

Men's

Rookie of the Year - Derek Needham, Fairfield
Sixth Man of the Year - Mike Evanovich, Fairfield
Defensive Player of the Year - Anthony Johnson, Fairfield
Coach of the Year - Kevin Williard, Iona
Player of the Year - Alex Franklin, Siena

Women's
Rookie of the Year - Kayla Stroman, Niagara
Sixth Man of the Year - Ali Morris, Niagara
Defensive Player of the Year - Stephanie Geehan, Fairfield
Coach of the Year - Kendra Faustin, Niagara
Player of the Year - Rachele Fitz, Marist

LOUDONVILLE - While senior point guard Ronald Moore is still No. 2 in career assists at Siena College, behind Marc Brown, he is No. 1 on one list.

The nation's assist leader, Moore is averaging 8.3 assists per game through the first nine games.

Moore is more than a full assist ahead of Kentucky freshman phenom John Wall, who is averaging 7.0 assists per game.

"It's crazy to think about it," said Moore, before Thursday's practice. "I really just go into every game trying to find guys and at the end of the day, it's working out for me."

As far as the 6-foot Conshohocken native leading the nation for the whole season, Siena coach Fran McCaffery thinks it is possible.

"I think it's conceivable that he could lead the nation in assists, yeah, because we push it and we're going to score a high number," said McCaffery, earlier this week.

Moore currently has 637 career assists, 159 behind Brown's standard of 796, but at this rate, it would only take 19 or so games for him to get in that neighborhood. Siena has 21 regular season games remaining.

"Coming in here, as a freshman, you set goals for yourself," Moore said. "Me being able to find guys, dishing out assists is something I take pride in. If you ask anybody on the team, I really take pride in assists and not turning the ball over. That's something, as a point guard, that I take pride in and to be number one in the country right now is a great honor and hopefully I can carry it out the rest of the season."

The amazing thing about Brown is that he not only is the Siena all-time leader in assists, he is also the all-time leading scorer with 2,284 points.

Moore will likely surpass 1,000 points for his career, but he said to do what Brown did is more than incredible.

"It even suprises me not to see his number in the rafters," said Moore.

The only two numbers that Siena has retired are Troy native Billy Harrell's No. 10 and Kenny Hasbrouck's No. 41.