The Siena men's basketball team wrapped up an unsuccessful trip to the Old Spice Classic on
Sunday.

AP

The Saints played well in spurts and would have felt good about coming home, had they closed the door against Purdue.

Siena led by 16 points in the second half, but the Boilermakers scored the game's final nine points, to post a 68-63 victory.

Here is postgame reaction from coach Jimmy Patsos, provided by the Siena athletic department.

It was the second time in eight days that the Boilermakers and Saints had met, with Purdue winning the two contests by a combined 13 points. 

The Saints lost to Memphis, Saint Joseph's and Purdue at the Old Spice and still have never won a game at this event.

In 2008, Fran McCaffery's eventual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions, lost to Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Wichita State.

This year's bunch of Saints need to regroup quickly, as they open MAAC play on Friday, traveling to the Buffalo area to take on Niagara (Friday) and Canisius (Sunday).

On the other side of town, the University at Albany is back over .500, following Sunday afternoon's 66-55 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The win is the Great Danes' second victory this season over the Highlanders.

Senior guard DJ Evans led the way with 17 points, which is good since I wrote about him for Sunday's paper. 

UAlbany travels to Holy Cross on Wednesday evening.

The Siena men's basketball team started way too slow on Friday evening, falling to Saint Joseph's 78-66, in the Old Spice Classic.

The Saints were down by 20 points at halftime and basically out of it.

"I thought we came out awful slow," assistant coach Greg Manning said on the radio postgame. "We were disappointed with the effort in the first half."

Here is link to the box score.

Freshman Lavon Long led the way for the Saints (2-6), with 13 points, while junior Rob Poole added 12.

The Hawks (3-2) were led by Langston Galloway, who scored a game-high 27 points. 

Siena will place in the 7th place game, on Sunday at 5 p.m., against Purdue. It will be a rematch of last Sunday's game (11/24), which the Boilermakers won 81-73.

AP

AP

The Siena men's basketball team started well, but No. 21 Memphis was far too good on Thanksgiving
evening.

The Tigers had just too much offense and size for the younger Saints, posting a 87-60 victory at the Old Spice Classic.

Coach Jimmy Patsos wasn't thrilled with the effort, especially in the middle of the game, saying, "I expect us to compete a little harder."

Memphis coach Josh Pastner had high praise for Patsos and the Saints.

"I think Siena should give him a lifetime contract," Pastner said to the AP. "He's the best. His teams play so hard. If I'm Siena's president, I would lock Coach Patsos up right now. I wouldn't wait. That program is going to get to where you're consistently going to the NCAA tournament."

The Saints play Saint Joseph's on Friday evening, at 8 p.m., on ESPNU.

Siena has already played two Atlantic 10 schools, losing at La Salle and defeated St. Bonaventuue, at home.

AP

The Siena men's basketball team will participate in the 2013 Old Spice Classic.

The games, held Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 28-Dec. 1), are at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.

In addition to the Saints, the 8-team field includes Butler, LSU, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Saint Joseph's and Washington State.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will serve as the event's sponsoring conference for the eighth straight year. 

Siena last competed in the Old Spice in 2008. The Saints lost to Tennessee, Wichita State and Oklahoma State, but did go on to win their second straight MAAC title and trip to the NCAA tournament.

Also announced over the Thanksgiving holiday is that the Siena game against St. Bonaventure, on Tuesday, Dec. 4, will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.  The game time has also been moved and now will be a 9 p.m. tip from the Reilly Center, in Olean.

The game is a battle for the Franciscan Cup, which the Bonnies hold possession of.

Overview: Siena and Oklahoma State came into the Old Spice Classic a combined 6-0. Three days later, they are a combined 6-4 and both are looking to leave Florida with at least one victory.

The Cowboys are coached by first-year head man Travis Ford. Ford, a former player at Kentucky left UMass and Siena coach Fran McCaffery was a rumored name to possibly replace Ford in Amherst.

Ford's team can run and gun, evidenced by their four players averaging in double figures and average 84.7 points per contest.

Even though they haven't played up to their potential, Siena can still get a big win over a BCS team and take some momentum if they can put things together on Sunday.

By scoring 20 points, junior forward Edwin Ubiles surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in Friday's game against Wichita State.

This game should feature plenty of offense.

Records: Siena 2-2. Oklahoma State 4-2

The Series: The Cowboys defeated the Saints in the only meeting between these two schools in 2001 at the Las Vegas Tournament.

Player to Watch: Kenny Hasbrouck, senior Siena. Hasbrouck hasn't had the best couple of games in Florida, but the MAAC's preseason Player of the Year doesn't stay down for long. Hasbrouck still has a chance to redeem himself against a Big 12 team. Hasbrouck scored 20 points on Friday, but I think he'd give all 20 of them back for the game-tying runner, which he missed, allowing Wichita State to sneak out with a 72-70 decision.

X-factor: Rebounding. Siena thought they had this problem going in the right direction, especially after outrebounding Tennessee, but then Wichita State got 13 offensive rebounds in what was a big key to Friday's game. The Saints will actually have a size advantage on Sunday and they need to make it count.

Injury Report: Siena senior Josh Duell (achilles, nose) took a blow to the head and it will be interesting to see if he plays at all on Sunday. Duell, who is recovering from an Achilles injury from the preseason, still hasn't scored yet this season in four games.

Prediction: Siena 78, Oklahoma State 75

Overview: The Saints begin the Old Spice Classic with a very tough matchup in the Volunteers on ESPN2 at noon (an early Thanksgiving must-see, if you're not watching the Lions lose again).

Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the country last year for a week and have three players who are capable of playing in the NBA, according to Siena coach Fran McCaffery, in Scotty Hopson, Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith.

The Volunteers also like to play the Saints' style of up-tempo type play and are averaging more than 93 points through their first three games.

Despite all of that, Siena's is confident of their chances.

"You have to have confidence in yourself that you're not going to be in awe of anybody and feel like you can win," McCaffery said. "We have that."

The Saints also feel like their experience in big games will help them in this tournament.

"It helps because we've been around it before," senior co-captain Kenny Hasbrouck said. "Nobody is going to have a shocked face now. I think we're used to it, so hopefully it's going to help us out in the game."

"I think we've gained a lot of respect over the past year," junior Alex Franklin added. "Teams aren't going to underestimate us anymore and I really think they're going to be ready for us, just as we will be ready for them."

Records: Siena 2-0. Tennessee 3-0

All-Time Series: These two teams have never met.

Player to Watch: Scotty Hopson, freshman Tennessee. Hopson was rated in the top 5 in the Class of 2008 by rivals.com and was a McDonald's All-American selection as a high schooler from Kentucky. Hopson has started all three games and scored 17, 5 and 10 points. Oh, I forgot to mention that he's 6-foot-7. He's the real deal.

X-factor: Edwin Ubiles, junior Siena. Like many players in this tournament, Ubiles has NBA potential. His defense was great last game against Cornell's Ryan Wittman and he will have to step on both ends of the floor if the Saints are to have a chance at pulling an upset.

"The reality for him is he can really play defense," said McCaffery about Ubiles. "Selfishly for him, if he can show the NBA people that he can play offense and defense equally well, he'll be in the league. He's not going to get there purely on his ability to score."

Injury Report: Junior forward Cory Magee was not going to make the trip to Orlando, according to what McCaffery said on Monday. Magee (concussion) is still trying to work his way back after catching an elbow in practice before the season started.

Prediction: Tennessee 84, Siena 78 (Siena can pull an upset, but will they? I think they cover the 11-point spread)