LOUDONVILLE — The Siena men’s basketball team is heading into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships while riding its largest winning streak of the season.
Saratoga Springs resident and Saints head coach Jimmy Patsos has helped turn a young team, predicted to finish No. 10 in the MAAC, into a No. 5 seed with a first round bye.
“These kids have been playing hard all year,” Patsos said. “We lost a couple close ones and instead of quitting, we learned from them and won a couple close ones. The fans at the Times Union [Center] have just been tremendous and we get a lot of support all over the area, including Saratoga. Those wins, they help, but everybody is 0-0 going in.”
The Saints (11-9 MAAC, 15-16 overall) begin a quarterfinal matchup with No. 4 Canisius, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“The good news for the game is that Saturday at 2:30 p.m. is a great time,” Patsos said. “I encourage people to come over. It’s only an hour and a half drive out, see the [Basketball] Hall of Fame. The [MassMutual Center] is a great place to watch a game. We’re counting on our fans. The fans are why we won 15 games this year. We would not have won 10 games without our fan base.”
Canisius (14-6, 20-11) handed the Saints two losses this season: a 93-78 decision in Buffalo and a triple overtime game at the Times Union Center.
“They’re very good at home and they’ve done that to a lot of people at home,” Patsos said. “When they make threes they’re the best team in the league. They don’t always make threes. Iona can score a lot of points, Manhattan is probably the best defensive team and Quinnipiac is a great rebounding team with the two big men. Everyone is a little different. When they make 3-pointers, they’re the best team in the league.”
The Saints No. 1 priority Saturday is Billy Baron. Baron, an All-MAAC First-Teamer, finished the regular season averaging 24.4 points, 5.2 assists and five rebounds per game for the Golden Griffins.
His 24.4 points per contest ranks him third in the nation and his 98 3-point field goals is a school record.
“We play Canisius and probably the player of the year in Billy Baron, so that’s going to be a tough matchup,” Patsos said. “It’s not just Baron. They have a bunch of different guys who can shoot that ball. You’re never going to stop Baron. You just have to contain him.”
On Saturday, the Saints will also see center Chris Manhertz, who did not play in the triple overtime game. The big man missed three games this season and leads the team in rebounds per game (6.7).
With things clicking at the right time and close statement wins over No. 2 Manhattan and No. 3 Quinnipiac, Patsos credits the recent success to a lot of guys stepping up.
“We have a lot of depth and a lot of guys who are playing well together,” Patsos said. “We’re a good team. What scares me is the same thing. We’re a good team, but we don’t have a go-to guy…We’re executing at the end of the games. Against Quinnipiac we made our foul shots. It was a tie game with three minutes to go. We played good defense down the stretch and once again [Rob] Poole made his free throws. Monmouth was the best team game we played, but be careful because that Monmouth team was a little tired.”
Poole, a junior, is leading the team with 14.7 points per game. He had team highs of 15 points in the win over Quinnipiac and 17 against Manhattan.
Named to the MAAC Third Team on Monday, he has reached double figures in 23 of Siena’s 31 games In Sunday’s win over Monmouth, Poole became the 40th Siena player to reach the 1,000-point mark.
“He’s a smart kid, Poole,” Patsos said. “He’s an interesting kid off the court and I enjoy that. Sometimes you have to pat him on the back to get a little out of him and sometimes he wants to be challenged. Yeah, you can yell at him a little. Sometimes Poole’s like, ‘Man, I need to get yelled at today, Coach. I’m not playing well,’ and I’m like, ‘OK I’ll give it to you if you want.’ He’s a very sensitive kid and all he cares about is winning. He’s an excellent teammate. I wish he was a little more selfish in terms of getting shots off. He didn’t care about the 1,000 points; he cared about how we got our 15th win and stuff like that."
In addition to Poole being named to the third team, Saints freshmen Lavon Long and Marquis Wright earned spots on the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Long averaged 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while Wright averaged a conference-leading 5.5 assists per game— the first freshman to do so in 20 years.
“Wright’s a pass-first point guard,” Patsos said. “We all knew that. The second thing is that Lavon Long is just a locomotive…He’ll do anything. All he cares about is winning. He can really handle the ball for a forward and make some shots. The thing about Wright is his minutes. He plays 35 minutes a game in this league. He’s an unselfish guy who wants to win too. Those two guys just want to win. And then Javion [Ogunyemi] from Troy has played really good defense for us lately. He got hurt and he’s not going to score much, but he’s been a very solid defensive player. We got lucky with these young guys.”
Aside from Poole and Evan Hymes, the young Saints team, which only carries one senior, has inexperienced players when it comes to the MAAC Championships.
One player who has made a difference and will be needed in the tournament is Brett Bisping.
“Look, when Brett Bisping plays well, we win,” Patsos said. “When he doesn’t, we don’t. That’s just a statistical analysis and I’m not big on that. He’s a sophomore. It’s new for him. It’s new for all these rookies. What he’s done is incredible and another person with a 3.5 average GPA. What Brett did that I admire, instead of being a perimeter forward who shot threes, we turned him into a dirty-work inside player and he’s really done well with that."
Hoping to add three more wins to the current four-game winning streak and an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, Patsos just has his eyes on Saturday’s matchup.
“The No. 5 seed is great because you have to win three instead of four and your odds have just increase,” Patsos said. “It’s all about winning Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against the Player of the Year. Can we do it? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. Has anything been easy for us this year? No. Did anyone give us anything? No. We’ve been grinding all year.”
