Saints shrug off slow start

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Matt Lopez of Rider gets caught between Rob Poole and Willem Brandwijk of Siena at the Times Union Center in Albany Monday, February 2, 2015. Anthony D'Orazio of Rider watches the play at center.

With plenty of snow outside of the Times Union Center and very few fans inside it, the Siena College basketball team had to shovel itself out of trouble Monday night against Rider.

Rider stung the Saints with a 20-4 run to open the game, but Rob Poole and Marquis Wright led a spirited comeback as Siena rallied past the Broncs, 79-72, before an announced crowd of 5,472. But that total included season-ticket holders. There were actually only about 300 fans in the building.

Poole scored 19 of his season-high 27 points in the second half, and Wright added 17 points and six assists as Siena turned the ball over just five times. The Saints also rebounded from a frigid shooting first half (29.6 percent) to shoot 69.6 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

“That was a gutty team effort,” said second-year Siena head coach Jimmy Patsos. “Rob Poole continues to not let us lose games, and Marquis Wright also played very well for us. I’ve got some Muhammad Ali stuff in my office, and I was trying the old rope-a-dope on Rider when they took that 20-4 lead.”

Wright and Long fueled a 26-4 Siena spurt to give the Saints a 30-24 advantage with 4:54 left in the first half. But Rider closed with a 6-0 run, including a three-pointer just before the buzzer by Zedric Sadler, to grab a 34-32 edge at the intermission.

Poole’s three-pointer keyed a 10-0 run early in the second half to help Siena open a 42-36 lead, and the Saints led by as many as 11 points twice (65-54 and 68-57) in the second half before clinching the game at the line.

Siena, which leads the MAAC and is third nationally in free throws made per game (18.5), made 25 of 32 shots from the line, compared to 18-for-28 for Rider.

“We can credit Manhattan for helping us to handle the ball better tonight,” said Patsos. “You can’t simulate the kind of press Manhattan showed us Friday night.”

“Manhattan showed us a lesson last Friday night,” added Wright. “They showed us we have to be tough with the ball. We didn’t have many fans in here tonight, so we had to create our own energy. It feels good to have so few turnovers tonight.”

Siena’s hot shooting in the second half had a lot to do with the Saints’ shot selection, as Poole and Wright continually drove hard through the lane.

“Rob is crafty in there [the lane]. He’s a scorer,” said Patsos.

“We definitely had to create our own energy tonight,” said Poole. “The lane was open for me. I’m a little slow with my first step. In fact, I might be one of the slowest players in the league, but somehow, I got by them for a few good moves on my drives.”

“We didn’t play Rider defense tonight,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett. “Poole shot the ball great, but I thought Wright was the key for those guys. He was going to the basket all the time, and he set the tone for them.”

Javion Ogunyemi added 12 points and six rebounds for the Saints, who are 6-6 in the MAAC and 9-12 overall. Jimmy Paige came off the bench to produce eight points.

Rider (8-4, 14-9), winner of four out of its last five, was paced by Jimmie Taylor (15) and Sadler (12).

RIDER (72)

Lundy 4-7 2-2 10, Lopez 4-4 2-4 10, Taylor 3-12 6-8 15, Okereafor 0-3 3-4 3, D’Orazio 3-6 0-0 7, Sadler 4-10 2-2 12, Valentine 2-5 1-1 5, Alford 1-3 0-0 2, Fortunat 3-3 2-7 8, Grant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-53 18-28 72.

SIENA (79)

Long 2-6 1-2 7, Poole 8-13 8-11 27, Ogunyemi 4-9 4-6 12, Wright 5-9 7-7 17, Hymes 0-2 0-0 0, Brandwijk 1-3 0-0 2, Oliver 2-5 1-2 6, Paige 2-3 4-4 8, White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-50 25-32 79.

Halftime: Rider, 34-32. Three-point goals: Rider 6-18 (Lundy 0-1, Taylor 3-7, Okeereafor 0-3, D’Orazio 1-2, Sadler 2-4, Valentine 0-1); Siena 6-15 (Long 2-2, Poole 3-7, Wright 0-1, Brandwijk 0-2, Oliver 1-3). Rebounds: Rider 35 (Lopez 10), Siena 30 (Ogunyemi 6). Assists: Rider 13 (Okereafor 5), Siena 12 (Wright 6). Total fouls: Rider 23, Siena 22. Fouled out: Lopez, Sadler, Fortunat, Long. Technical fouls: Siena coach Patsos. Officials: Nathan Farrell, Justin Simon, Andy O’Brien. Attendance 5,472 (including season-ticket holders).