ALBANY - Siena won't go undefeated this season.

We knew this was going to happen, but most fans probably thought it wouldn't start tonight. Or should I say end, as in the 38-game homecourt winning streak that came to an end as Vermont held on for an 80-76 victory in downtown Albany.

The Saints actually trailed by 15, before they tried to kick it into high gear and steal victory from defeat.

“We can’t put ourselves in that position and have to dig out of that hole,” said senior forward Ryan Rossiter, who was a beast late in the game.

The team's play wasn't great and kind of embodied how they've performed throughout the preseason.

“We were good at times and then we just don’t play well at times,” said coach Mitch Buonaguro. “The lack of consistency was evident tonight.”

Some quick positives and negatives.

Positives:

• Rosstier and OD Anosike should dominate throughtout the season (they combined for 38 points and 15 rebounds)
• The late-game play was your typical Siena team, trapping and causing turnovers. If they play like that for the entire 40 minutes, they win easily.
  
• Lack of turnovers. Coach B had been worried about that and the Saints had just 9, while forcing 20 turnovers.
  

Negative

• Rebounding. The Saints were outrebounded 44-30 and going up against Minnesota on Monday will be a even harder to even that stat.
  
• The point guard play. I wouldn't say Kyle Griffin or Rakeem Brookins were bad, but they just didn't get it done. Especially when little Joey Accaoui had a career night.
  

Vermont coach Mike Lonergan had a lot of good things to say about Siena (he met the school's president before the game).

“We pride ourselves on playing a tough schedule,” Lonergan said. “Obviously, they do too. They’re going to Minnesota now. I think these are two of the best mid-major programs in the last eight years, on the whole east coast, along with Davidson.”

Clarence Jackson had his thumb heavily taped in the locker room after the game.

He said he reaggrevated jamming it in practice and that's not a good sign.

He didn't make excuses for having a bad shooting night, but that thing will probably not feel much better in the morning.

“I tried to attack the basket more,” a frustrated Jackson said after the game. “I wasn’t finishing.”

ALBANY - Starters 51, Bench 39.

Clarence Jackson and Ronald Moore: 2 points. Just-in'Love Smith and Conner Fenlon: 6 points.

That clearly won't happen every night, but it showed just how much of a team victory Tuesday's 90-56 victory over Delaware really was.

Every player played at least two minutes and everyone took at least one shot for Siena.

“It feels good to see everyone in motion and everyone in the rhythm of the game,” said sophomore Kyle Downey.

While coach Fran McCaffery said he doesn't consider Downey and fellow soph Owen Wignot young anymore, he was pleased with his freshmen's play, for the most part.

“Denzel (Yard) and Jon (Breeden) in particular were up and down like a lot of freshmen will be and they have to take better care of the basketball,” McCaffery said. “I’m not happy about that at all.”

McCaffery was very happy with O.D. Anosike's 10 rebounds, something he pointed out in the postgame talk to the team.

“I knew I was grabbing some, but I was surprised when (McCaffery) told me I had double digits,” said Anosike, who also had three points and two steals.

Everyone seemed pleased with the young guys' effort.

“They played well,” said senior Alex Franklin. “They stay composed, they did what they were capable of doing, they stuck to their strengths and I thought they really played hard.”

“As you can see, they can contribute,” Moore said. “They put a lot of hard work in at practice and for everybody to get in and contribute is a good thing.”

Downey was happy to get back on track as he scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting.

“I think it was just more of a confidence booster for me,” said Downey.

With their next three games on the road, it was a solid team win.

“It’s always good to have a team win for reliance on the road, so we don’t depend on Ron and Eddie (Ubiles) and Alex and Clarence, just those guys,” Downey said. “It’s good to get our whole team involved.”

Siena sophomore Kyle Downey's name came up Monday when coach Fran McCaffery was asked about his team's depth.

"I will say this, we have to get Kyle Downey going," McCaffery said. "(Owen) Wignot and (OD) Anosike are fine. Downey, who had a ton of points (in the scrimmage) against Rutgers, is struggling offensively and he's letting it affect him. He's too good of a player, so I'm confident he's going to be fine."

Downey has high expectations after a good freshman year that saw him be a constant contributor off of the bench and an offensive force when really needed.

This year, however, he's shooting just 33 percent (4-12) from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point distance.

McCaffery said that he knows Downey will come around, but he's letting the slow start affect him too much.

"He's a very consciousness person by nature," McCaffery said. "The thing that he has to remember is he was injured in April, when the season ended, he got hurt, so he didn't play from April to almost the end of September. I think he has an expectation level for himself to be in mid-season form and I think it's unfair for me to expect that and it's unfair of him to expect of himself, despite the fact that he's a perfectionist by nature.

A cause for the slow start could be the fact that Downey fractured the two lower vertebrae in his back in April and now is wearing a protective brace during games.

In the Temple game, Downey was 0-for-1 from the field in nine minutes.

"What he can't do is jack a three that's contested because that will get him sideways," McCaffery said. "He's got to come in and make a couple plays."

Downey also fumbled a pass late when Siena was trying to tie the game, but McCaffery was confident with him on the floor at that point.

"I think in that situation you put your best shooters on the floor," said McCaffery.

Siena senior Edwin Ubiles will be playing with more pressure this season.

Not only is the 6-foot-6 forward one of the "Big 3" and a new father of twin girls, but he will be playing all year under the scrutiny of NBA scouts.

Fran McCaffery said Monday at his weekly media luncheon that representative from the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs were at practice last week and he thinks that will continue throughout the year.

"He's slotted to be a second round pick and then he can determine, based on his play, does he move into the first round or does he move out of the second round," McCaffery said. "So, there's a lot of pressure on him and I addressed that with him and he's handled it really well."

McCaffery says Ubiles has been playing much better lately after shaking off an early shoulder injury that gave him trouble in the preseason and carried over to a lackluster performance in the scrimmage against Princeton.

"Since then, he's been spectacular," McCaffery said. "He's great in practice every day, which is the key for him, every day and he played really well against Rutgers."

Kenny Hasbrouck went thought some similar treatment last year as a senior and McCaffery said he thought Kenny was the best at blocking out that type of pressure as any player he's ever seen, but thinks Ubiles can do it too.

"I think Eddie has the personality that can handle it," McCaffery said. "We're going to help him through it. The thing he does is, he really understands how to play. He never forces anything."

McCaffery said he expects a good consistency from Ubiles throughout the year.

"I think what you'll see is a consistent Edwin Ubiles in terms of his numbers," McCaffery said. "I think the beauty of his game is not necessarily that he's going to score 25, but he's going to score 17 and rebounds and pass and not turn it over and make his free throws at the end of the game and defend and help you win."

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Here's Coach McCaffery's assessment on his rotation at this point.

"You look at the last scrimmage and the starters played extremely well and then (Owen) Wignot and (Kyle) Downey looked really, really solid coming off the bench. O.D. Anosike played great against Princeton and had a phenomenal week of practice, he did not play against Rutgers, but he looks like he's really moved into that position. Steven Priestley, I think, has established himself as a guy that's going to play and deservedly so. So the next question becomes, who is the next guard to come in, whether it's Denzel Yard or Jon Breeden and do I try to work both of them in. That puts us at 10 and then Davis Martens becomes eligible and then Kyle Griffin, so that's 12 and the reality is you can't play 12. I don't care how many guys try to do it, you can't play 12.

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Anosike broke his nose, but McCaffery said he is expecting the 6-foot-7 freshman to play Friday night at Tennessee State.

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While players and coaches aren't allowed to talk about scrimmages, McCaffery dropped this nugget when asked about the play of junior center Ryan Rossiter, saying he scored 19 points against Rutgers in the first 15-minute segment.

"He can score," McCaffery said. He was making post moves, he was getting fouled, he was running the floor."

Senior point guard Ronald Moore will sit out this evening's first practice, still bothered by an eye injury.

Moore's right eye was poked earlier in the week and he said he should be ready to go by Monday.

"They want me to take it easy," said Moore at the team's media day on Friday. "I feel as though I'm ready to come back, but there's nothing wrong with missing a few days before I get back out there."

Some other notes from Media Day

• In his introduction of the team, Siena coach Fran McCaffery said this is the most talented team in Siena history. I think the word he used was "clearly." I'm not the man to argue but those are strong words for a program that has just won a game in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
• McCaffery did add that losing Kenny Hasbrouck, the team's best player and best defensive player isn't good, even if the this team has more overall talent.
• McCaffery said the team will embrace its honor to be ranked in the Top 25 in some publications, something his players agreed with. "We don't want to shy away from it, we're proud of it and we're going to work as hard as possible to stay ranked," Moore said.
• McCaffery had high words for sophomore Kyle Downey, saying that he could be someone first off the bench to replace guards. "He's a shot maker. He's in great shape. He trimmed down and I think feels really good about his game now and I think he's ready to take that next step."
• McCaffery also said that Steven Priestley and O.D. Anosike have to play to give Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter a spell in the frontcourt. Once Davis Martens becomes available after 12 games, that will give the team more frontcourt depth.

While Siena coach Fran McCaffery said it was great for the crowd and Tay Fisher to be back to unveil last year's championship, he's foucsed on the new season.

"Last night, it was time for business," McCaffery said.

The Saints took care of business in Game 1 and now are looking ahead to Saturday's date with Cornell.

First, Siena annouced Tuesday that O.D. Anosike, Jonathan Breeden and Denzel Yard all have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Saints in 2009-10. Siena has one more scholarship to give.

Here's what McCaffery said about the new class.

"I'm really excited about these three," said McCaffrey at Tuesday's media luncheon. "I feel like we've addressed some of our needs."

Anosike is a 6-foot-8 205-pound forward from New Jersey, who averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds a year playing for Saint Peter's High School for Boys' in Staten Island.

"He's 6-8 and long, very versitale and can handle the ball extremely well for a 6-8 player," said McCaffery, who added the staff saw O.D. play probably 30 times this summer. "He can really play the three (small forward) if we need him to."

Breeden is a 6-foot-1 point guard from Harrisburg, Pa.

"Breeden's a pure point, get in the lane, great pick-and-roll player, solid body and very athletic," McCaffery said.

Breeden didn't play this summer due to an ankle injury, but McCaffery said he's had lengthy discussions with his high school coach at Central Dauphin East, who McCaffery knows well and so he knows what he's getting.

Yard is another guard from Philadelphia, Pa., who played for Team Philly AAU.

"Denzel Yard can play point, he can play two (shooting guard)," said McCaffery, who added that he's seen Denzel play 15 times already. "He's a phenomenal athlete, really competitive and great basketball instincts."

Overall, McCaffery is happy with how these players will fit with his team.

"For a team that likes to go up and down and press the way we do, we have three guys that can play exactly that way," McCaffery said.

According to ESPN, Siena's basketball team landed their third recruit on Monday as Oderah Anosike committed to Fran McCaffery. Anosike joins Jonathan Breeden and Denzel Yard.

Here's what ESPN says about the 6-foot-8 Anosike, who plays AAU for the New Jersey ShoreShots.

April, 2008: This active "face-up 4-man" has a great feel for the game and an extensive arsenal of moves. Anosike has great genes as his sister Nicky helped lead Tennessee to two National Titles, and she was recently drafted 16th in the WNBA Draft. His 6'10" wingspan helps him defensively as he has a great knack for blocking or altering shots. He should be an A10 or CAA starter by his junior year.

Also, here is a link to a story from ESPN's Andy Katz, who apparently made a trip to Loudonville recently.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3614256

If you notice, down near the bottom, there's a picture of "Kenny Hasbrouck," but it's actually Alex Franklin. (I bet Kenny would love to dunk like that)