Saints have been deluged by well-wishers

PHOTOGRAPHER: Mike MacAdam

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Siena had no difficulty getting back to business on Saturday after Friday’s huge victory over Vanderbilt.

The Saints had a practice from 1:35-3:05, then met with the media.

Some of the Saints got to sleep late Friday, but they couldn’t help watching the highlights on TV for awhile. They also received a flood of phone and text messages from well-wishers.

“Ronald Moore led us all with, like 36, and I was a close second with 25,” said sophomore forward Alex Franklin, although teammate Kenny Hasbrouck claimed to have had over 40.

HASBROUCK OK

Hasbrouck came out of the Vanderbilt game limping a little bit with 2:47 left and Siena leading, 71-60.

He took his shoe off to have his ankle examined by the trainers, but came back in to make four straight free throws.

He practiced on Saturday and said he had no lingering problems with his ankle.

“Everybody’s sore right now, everybody’s tired, but however we feel, Villanova feels the same way,” senior Tay Fisher said. “They had a tough game against Clemson. Only the strongest survive. In the summer, that’s our time to rest. Right now, it ain’t summer yet.”

TWICE AS NICE

Josh Duell got to experience a first-round victory for the second time in his career, but there wasn’t much similarity between Vermont’s overtime victory over Syracuse in 2005 and Siena’s win over Vanderbilt, he said.

“In 2005, it was a lot more dramatic. It was a down-to-the-wire game, we went into overtime, but this one, we went wire-to-wire. At the end of the game, I didn’t know whether to celebrate or relax.

“I didn’t want to say it was over until that buzzer sounded, but when we were up by 17 with one minute to go, I felt a little bit safer.”

OH BROTHER

Siena point guard Ronald Moore’s brother, Chuck, played for Vanderbilt and had mixed feelings when he watched his brother beat his alma mater on Friday.

“It was tough,” he said. “The Vanderbilt people knew what was going on when I walked in. But you have to go with family first.”

OH BROTHER II

Siena freshman center Ryan Rossiter was able to catch the last six minutes of Davidson’s victory over Gonzaga on Friday. His brother, Stephen, is a sophomore for the Wildcats, who played at 12:25 p.m.

“I was just really happy for him and hoping we could do the same thing,” Ryan Rossiter said. “Our parents are just so proud of us, and we try to do everything for them. They love it. Everyone knows them from home, and they’re getting a lot of congratulations. It’s just great that they’re able to enjoy this with us.”

The Rossiters’ parents, Steve and Patty, were in Tampa from Staten Island for both of Siena’s games. Davidson, which is located in Charlotte, N.C., pretty much got home games when it was assigned to the West region in Raleigh, N.C.

Stephen Rossiter had four points and four rebounds in 11 minutes for the Wildcats against Gonzaga. Ryan had four rebounds in 14 minutes and used four fouls to harrass A.J. Ogilvy.

“I expected to [play], but you just always have to be ready on the bench,” he said. “He’s [head coach Fran McCaffery] never going to say ‘You have to be more ready than you,’ because everyone has to be ready. It’s unfortunate Alex got into foul trouble, but me, Cory [Magee], whoever else off the bench, we try to come in and play as hard as we can knowing we’re not going to get those big minutes. That allows us to give 100 percent every time we’re out there.

RETURN TONIGHT

The Saints are scheduled to take a charter flight home at 7 tonight, so they should be at Albany International Airport around 10 p.m.