The
Siena Saints Basketball Team represents Siena College in Loudonville, New York. The division one program competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Saints are currently coached by Fran McCaffery who is in his third year at the Loudonville school. Siena plays all of its home games at the 17,500 all-seater Times Union Center in downtown Albany. Since 1988, the team has appeared in four NCAA Tournaments (1989, '99, '02, and '08) and five NIT Tournaments (1988, '91, '94, '00, and '03)
In 1989, Siena star Marc Brown led the school to their greatest triumph an 80-78 victory over third seeded Stanford. The 1993-1994 Saints finished 25-8 making all the way to the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden defeating such teams as Georgia Tech, Tulane, Bradley, and Kansas State. Siena’s Doremus Bennerman capped his brilliant college career with a 51-point outburst against Kansas State, winning most outstanding player honors in the NIT.
Brown (2,284) and Bennerman (2,109) are the only two men to score 2,000 points or more while at Siena.
After coach Mike Deane (166-77 in 8 years at Siena) left to take the head coaching job at Marquette, Siena suffered through a terrible 22-59 three year tenure under Bob Beyer, who was fired. Siena then hired Villanova assistant Paul Hewitt to resurrect the program.
Hewitt did so leading the Saints to a 66-27 record during his three years, winning the MAAC tournament championship in 1999 and taking regular season crown in 2000. Hewitt would leave after the 1999-2000 to take over at Georgia Tech.
Louis Orr coached the team for one season (20-11) before leaving for Seton Hall University. Siena then hired Rob Lanier, an assistant under Rick Barnes at University of Texas. In Lanier's first year Siena struggled through a brutal regular season going 12-18. However the team went on to win the MAAC championship on their home floor and become the first team since Bradley in 1955 to win an NCAA Tournament game with a losing record as they defeated Alcorn State 81-77 in the play in game. Siena would gain an NIT berth in 2003, going 21-11 and beating Big East member Providence along the way. They defeated Villanova and Western Michigan in the NIT before being eliminated by Alabama-Birmingham. Lanier's final two years brought much frustration among Siena fans. In 2003-2004, Siena started off 3-0 only to lose their next 10 games and finish the season a disappointing 14-16. Lanier's final year saw an injury-plagued Siena team finish with a program worst 24 losses and he was fired after that season.
On November 17th McCaffery guided Siena to a 79-67 victory over #20 Stanford University in Albany, NY at the Times Union Center. The win was Siena's first over a ranked opponent since the 1989 NCAA tournament first round also against Stanford. Siena once again defeated Albany 75-71 for their sixth win in seven tries against the Great Danes since the series resumed. Siena dominated their Bracketbuster game against Boise State, another quality mid-major school. The Saints defeated Manhattan, Loyola College (MD), and Rider to win the MAAC Tournament and clinch a bid in the NCAA Tournament.
During Selection Sunday, the Saints received a #13 seed in the Midwest Region of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Saints went on to upset the 4th seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the tournament 83-62. The Saints were led by junior Kenny Hasbrouck who scored a team high 30 points. Senior guard Tay Fisher came off the bench to add 19 points on 6-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. The Saints never trailed in the contest and became the first MAAC team to advance since the 2004 tournament.
In the second round of the tournament, the Saints found themselves facing the #12 seed Villanova Wildcats on March 23, 2008. With 25 points from Scottie Reynolds and 20 points from Corey Stokes, the Wildcats cruised to an 84-72 victory over the Saints and Villanova advanced to the sweet sixteen.
Team Website: http://sienasaints.cstv.com
School Website: http://www.siena.edu
