Kenny Hasbrouck and the Siena Saints went into last night's game against Vanderbilt looking to become the third lower seed to come out of Tampa Bay sub-regional victoriously.
The Saints never trailed.
Vanderbilt's fall started with a two shot foul against A.J. Ogilvy. The result was two free throws made by Siena's Alex Franklin.
Siena never looked back from that point on. Although Vanderbilt cut Siena's twelve point lead at halftime to seven with thirteen minutes left, Hasbrouck scored and got fouled to give the momentum back to Siena.
Siena increased the lead to 21 points and began celebrating after Vanderbilt committed their final intentional foul with one minute remaining.
Hasbrouck had 30 points and senior guard Tay Fisher had 19 off the bench.
When Kenny Hasbrouck hits his first couple of shots, he is one of the deadliest shooters in the country.
The Saints' shooters were on, and their defense was solid. They held Vanderbilt to 4-20 shooting from beyond the arc and 25-61 overall. Siena only committed a total of eleven fouls throughout the game, which is not unusual for the Saints who average only fifteen personal fouls per game.
Somehow, Siena is able to play tight defense without fouling.
Their tight perimeter defense that shut down Vanderbilt's Shan Foster will be able to keep Nova's Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher in check from beyond the arc.
Although Alex Franklin and Edwin Ubiles had quiet games, you can expect them to come up big tomorrow against Villanova. Ubiles was named First Team All-MAAC along with Hasbrouck.
Siena's weakness is definitely a defined big man.
They have Franklin who plays big, but is only 6'5". Josh Duell, a 6'7" transfer from Vermont, is a presence down low; however, his defense has been questionable against bigger teams.
Nova has a few guys who stand taller than both Franklin and Duell, but Dante Cunningham is the only offensive threat of the Wildcats' big men.
In the do-or-die games of tournament play, Tay Fisher has played exceptionally well. He shot 6-6 from three last night to follow up a 6-10 performance in the MAAC championship. It is easy to see Fisher, who is very emotional, having another big game tomorrow.
If Siena plays tight perimeter defense, their big men step up on defense, and their shooters start hot look for the Saints to march to the Sweet 16.
comments (5) write a comment »
write a new comment
6 months ago
Scottie Reynolds will be the difference in tomorrow's game.
6 months ago
Siena has some pesky defensive guards who can stop Scottie.
6 months ago
siena will win for sure. GO SAINTS
6 months ago
Saints down by 12 early. Nothing is falling for them.
6 months ago
Clearly not what I expected. This was not the Siena team that knocked off the top conference opponents, Vanderbilt, and Stanford, but the team that lost to my Manhattan College Jaspers. Foul shooting and the early coldness killed them.
write a new comment