ALBANY — Siena men’s basketball will likely be without fifth-year senior wing Jayce Johnson for this weekend’s MAAC home games against Saint Peter’s on Friday and Rider on Sunday due to a knee injury, head coach Carmen Maciariello said Wednesday.
Maciariello said that Johnson will “probably be out this weekend,” but was hopeful the guard would be available to return for the following weekend’s western New York swing to Niagara and Canisius.
Johnson suffered the injury during last Friday’s 83-76 road win over Quinnipiac, then sat out Siena’s 70-61 win over Fairfield on Sunday. The Buffalo native is averaging 7.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game this season.
Senior Jordan Kellier started against Fairfield — his first start since stepping in for an injured Jackson Stormo in the Saints’ season opener against Holy Cross — and provided eight points in 18 minutes.
The win against Fairfield without Johnson in the lineup was the third time this season that Siena (3-0 MAAC, 9-5 overall) won a game despite missing a member of its regular starting five. The Saints beat Holy Cross in November with Stormo out, and beat American last month when leading scorer Javian McCollum was sidelined with an ankle injury.
“That just shows we’re a really good team,” sophomore wing Jared Billuips said. “We lock into our scout and know the team we’re playing.”
Freshman guard Michael Eley has been a driving force during Siena’s current four-game win streak, though Maciariello said the three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week will likely continue to come off the team’s bench,
McCollum was present but not participating in workouts during Wednesday’s practice at MVP Arena, something Maciariello said was a regular occurrence to limit the sophomore point guard’s workload.
“I limit what he does, because he gets beat up every game,” Maciariello said. “I limit him, I limited Jared yesterday and Michael Eley yesterday, they’re both practicing today. [Graduate student guard Andrew] Platek played, practiced. So, you know, his ‘Old Man River’ body is still holding up, knock on wood. It’s a constant battle, maintenance, just making sure these guys are taking care of their bodies.”
Categories: -Sports-, College Sports, Siena College, Sports
