Last-place Saints close regular season at Iona
ALBANY — The No. 10 or No. 11 seed? It really makes no difference to Siena men’s basketball coach Carmen Maciariello, who said he’s more concerned with how his team is playing heading into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament in Atlantic City.
The Saints (4-26 overall, 3-16 MAAC) have one more chance to head into the postseason on a winning note. They close the regular season at Iona at 1 p.m. Saturday in New Rochelle.
Right now, Siena would be the 11th and last seed in the MAAC Tournament and play the No. 6 seed in the late (9:45 p.m.) firstround game on Tuesday at Boardwalk Hall. The Saints would move up to No. 10 if they beat Iona Saturday and Manhattan (7-21, 4-15) loses at home to Canisius. In that case, Siena would play the No. 7 seed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
“Us playing well and sharing the ball and staying connected is more important to me and having a good day of rest and recovery and mindfulness tomorrow and then competing as hard as we can and giving it all on Saturday,” Maciariello said after Thursday’s 66-59 home loss to Niagara. “I could care less what place we finish. It’s about playing good basketball and being ready to go, no matter what time it is.”
Siena fell into sole possession of last place with the loss to Niagara combined with Manhattan’s 77-60 home win over Iona on Thursday.
The Gaels (14-16, 9-10) have lost five of six games and are tied for seventh entering Saturday’s rematch with the Saints. Iona beat Siena 70-51 at MVP Arena on Jan. 26 in a game the Saints trailed by 25 points at halftime.
Since then, Iona lost junior guard Greg Gordon, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, who left the team Feb. 22 for personal reasons.
The Gaels are unlikely to get any sympathy from the Saints, who on Thursday extended their program record for losses in a season. Siena hasn’t finished alone in last place since the 200405 season. The Saints tied for last in 2017-18.
Against Niagara, they led only once, at 1-0. Siena tied the score five times in the second half but was unable to take the lead. The Purple Eagles used a late 8-0 run to take control.
Siena sophomore forward Brendan Coyle of Niskayuna scored a careerhigh 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range. Redshirt sophomore forward Giovanni Emejuru had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double.
“Just my teammates were getting me open shots and I saw the first one go in, so I felt good for the next couple,” Coyle said.
But the Saints were held under 60 points for the 16th time this season and couldn’t get stops in the second half.
Sophomore guard Michael Eley (lower body) returned from a three-game absence and shot 2-of-13 from the field. Redshirt junior Sean Durugordon (upper body) and sophomore point guard Zek Tekin (lower body) missed their fifth and fourth consecutive games, respectively.
Maciariello said he would have to check with the doctor and medical team on Durugordon and Tekin’s availability for Saturday and the MAAC Tournament.