By Stuart Seidel
ALBANY, N.Y. — When the Siena Saints and the Vermont Catamounts tipped off at the Times Union Center it was a special night for a few reasons. It was the 300th time the Saints have played in the TU Center but the first time on their brand new hardwood. It was also the night they dropped their CBI Championship banner from the rafters at that very building. However, the Vermont Catamounts decided to spoil the night.
Early on the Saints struggled with shooting, passing and had some foul trouble in the first five minutes of the game but quickly settled in following some strong play from Junior Brett Bisping and a 3-pointer from Jimmy Paige. The Saints took the lead and then went blow for blow with Vermont until the half time buzzer sounded with the teams separated by a only a point.
Rob Poole came out shooting the ball well in the second half making three of the Saints first four baskets. The Saints were able to build their lead up to seven points by the 11:46 mark of the second half but then fouls and turnovers let the Catamounts come storming back to take the lead 58-56 just two minutes later. After trading punches for the next six minutes the Saints found themselves down by just one with under three minutes left to play. However, following a shot clock violation, a couple of blocked shots, and hitting the side of the backboard with a shot, Siena saw their chances of winning slip away as Vermont made every mistake count and ultimately winning by eight points.
Siena probably shouldn’t have kept the game so close with the way that Vermont shot the ball from the free throw line in the first half, just 6 for 13. The Catamounts were able to keep it close and ultimately prevail by outplaying Siena in the paint. Vermont won most of the rebounds and were able to produce points in the paint while Siena struggled to make a layup.
Siena just did not look strong or confident with the basketball turning the ball over 19 times. Countless times a Vermont player just ripped the ball right out of a Siena players hands. The Saints just did not have their head in a swivel all night. That along with their play under the basket Vermont just looked like the stronger team.
One player that struggled early on but is going to have to improve if the Saints want to win the MAAC this year is Marquis Wright. Avoiding his sophomore slump is one of the Siena Saints’ keys to success this year. After making only two of his eleven shots in Siena’s season opener at UMass, he followed that up with one basket in four shots against Vermont. Patsos even chose to go with Senior Evan Hymes over Wright for about the last ten minutes of the first half. Hymes made it count racking up 12 points, two steals and an assist in the first half alone.
There were some positives to take out of the game for Siena. Freshman Brandwijk looked comfortable in front of a crowd that was highly anticipating his debut finishing a couple of acrobatic baskets and some high flying rebounding. He brought energy to the floor when on it and I expect to see his minutes increase throughout the season.
Rob Poole didn’t only shoot the ball well early in the second half as he racked up 22 points including some clutch shots to help keep this game in contention down the stretch. Vermont had four of their five starters foul out of the game but they also had four different players finish with double digit points including Ethan O’Day who led the way with 20.
That marks two tough losses for the Saints to start the season but they played a solid first half in this one against Vermont and only slipped up late in the game to UMass. Once they figure out how to put a complete game together start to finish they will become a dangerous team. Their next shot at doing so is on November 19th on the road at the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.
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