Saints win 15th straight
Siena ties Division I mark, getting 21 points from King vs. Rider
In the first half on Friday night, the Siena men's basketball team played what head coach Carmen Maciariello called probably their worst half of basketball in his two seasons as head coach.
Of course, the Saints still won the game. That's what they do — with or without Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jalen Pickett in the lineup.
With Pickett (hamstring) sidelined for the second straight game, sophomore guard Jordan King of CBA scored a career-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Saints beat Rider 78-69 for their 15th straight win to tie the program's Division I record.
"I think it was guys understanding, hey, we needed to share the ball more," Maciariello said of the second-half turnaround. "We needed to keep it moving. We needed not to (have) stagnant offense where the ball's sticking to one guy and I thought we had ball movement and player movement and that led to more energy on offense, which translated to more energy on defense, so they kind of fed off each other."
The 2009-10 team won 15 in a row. Siena also tied a program record with its seventh consecutive road victory, quite a turnaround for a team that lost its first nine road games in Maciariello's first season before going on its current tear.
"It's just staying connected," senior guard/forward Manny
Camper said. "We have like 10 new players and we've been fighting quarantine, but our group's connectivity is just at an all-time high right now. We're spending a lot of time together on and off the court, just building that."
Siena and Rider were tied at 31 at halftime. The game was still knotted at 59 before Siena went on an 11-0 run, with all the points scored by King or Camper, who finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Camper leads the MAAC in rebounding (9.6) and assist (5.4) average.
"I just continued in the offseason to work on my allaround game," Camper said. "Last year, it was the rebounding. This year, the assists are going up."
King continued to shoot well on the road. He was 4-for-21 from 3-point range through the first four games, 1-for-13 at home, before making 5 of 8 in Alumni Gym with no fans on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I don't know," King said. "I really couldn't tell you. I just feel comfortable in road games. I like just playing on the road since high school."
Camper took charges on back-to-back possessions that led to a King drive and a King 3-pointer from the left corner for a 65-59 lead with 3:57 to play.
"Awesome," Maciariello said. "We've kind of stressed, in those first games against Monmouth, we haven't taken any charges. Manny had two. Jordan had one. I love Jordan's. I think he turned it over (to start the second half ) and sprinted back and got the possession back, and then Manny's two late were huge."
Siena improved to 5-0 overall, 5-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Siena and Rider will play again in Lawrenceville at 7 p.m. on Saturday. With a victory Saturday, Siena can break the Division I winning streak record and tie the overall record of 16 straight that overlapped the 1949-50 and 1950-51 seasons.
Maciariello said he doesn't know if Pickett will be available for Saturday's rematch.
"I'm not really even thinking about that, to be honest," Maciariello said. "It's a short turnaround. If he can play, great. If he can't, great. We're going to play our style of play."
Siena freshman forward Colin Golson made his college debut after clearing COVID -19 protocols. He had seven points, including an alley-oop dunk from Camper that cut Rider's lead to 41-40, and six rebounds.
"I loved it," Maciariello said. "Colin was excited all day. I wanted to make sure he was just kind of steady and he competes. He's not afraid."
Dwight Murray led Rider (3-9, 3-6) with 25 points.
Siena junior center Jackson Stormo left the game late bleeding from near his eye. Maciariello said he thought Stormo caught an elbow and might need butterfly stitches, but should be fine.