Siena 74, Canisius 57
How Siena Won: Picasso didn't spend as much time in the paint as the Saints, who scored 54 points in the lane. It was at-will stuff, from Clarence Jackson going 7 of 11 in scoring 16 first-half points to Alex Franklin finishing 11 of 16 from the field while netting his game-high 26. Did we mention center Ryan Rossiter was 6 of 8? Siena's seven three-point attempts were variety for variety's sake. Griffs simply were without answers, particularly with Greg Logins (chest) unable to go.
Turning Point: Rossiter scored seven straight Siena points shortly after Griffs drew within 51-44. His tip-in following his own out-of-bounds save made it 60-46 with 9:15 left.
Player of the Game: Let's go with Rossiter given his contribution to the telling swing, plus his 15 points and 17 rebounds.
Stat of the Game I: Griffs outrebound opponents by average of three a game. Sunday? Siena, 43-27.
Stat of the Game II: Canisius shooting guard Julius Coles, who averages 15.1 points, went 3 of 15 fromt the field. That makes him a cumulative 6 for 30 in the two losses to the Saints.
He Said It: "This is not an easy place, especially this year." -- Siena coach Fran McCaffery. He's kidding, right? See next item.
In the House: All of 1,504 showed up to see a Top 40 team in the nation. A good 16 of them were students -- excluding the band.
Up Next: Griffs entertain James Madison at 7 p.m. Saturday in the ESPNU Bracketbuster.
---Bob DiCesare
tagged
Big 4 | Canisius | College basketball | Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
