Siena blows out Cal Poly
Fisher, Pickett help Saints take control in second half of victory
Godzilla made his first appearance for the Siena men’s basketball team, which built its biggest halftime lead of the season on Saturday afternoon.
When Cal Poly roared back to tie the game in the second half, the Saints relied on their twoheaded monster of Evan Fisher and Jalen Pickett to win their nonconference finale in convincing fashion.
Fisher, a senior forward, scored a career-high 26 points and Pickett continued his impressive freshman campaign with 16 points and 11 assists in a 75-54 romp over the Mustangs before 5,768 fans at Times Union Center.
“I think everybody in that (locker) room believes we have a real good shot to win the title,” said Fisher, whose team opens Metro Atlantic Athletic Confer-
ence play at Saint Peter’s on Thursday. “I think that’s just been our goal and that’s something we’ve worked for. But staying consistent with the games in front of us, taking care of Cal Poly today before conference play starts, I think that’s what’s really going to help us moving forward.”
The Saints, who rank as one of the worst defensive teams in Division I, submitted one of their best efforts at that end of the f loor under new head coach Jamion Christian.
They held Cal Poly to 44.2 percent (23-for-52) shooting from the field, well under the Maac-worst 52.1 the Saints allowed heading into the afternoon. It snapped a streak of eight straight Siena foes shooting 50 percent or better.
Cal Poly went scoreless for 7 minutes and 26 seconds in the first half, a stretch that included 10 straight possessions without a point. That’s known as a “Godzilla” in the parlance of the Siena coaches, who use it as a motivational tactic.
The defensive effort helped Siena (5-8) lead 36-25 at halftime.
Team manager Thomas Smalley was able to attach a Godzilla sticker to the Saints’ defensive board for the first time this season to go with the “turkeys” (three straight defensive stops) and “monsters” (five straight).
“Oh yeah,” senior guard Kadeem Smithen said. “First Godzilla of the year? It was great. Love to see it. I didn’t even know what it looked like, to be honest. And to see it on the board, that gave us even more momentum to play more defense.”
Smithen helped hound Cal Poly senior guard Donovan Fields, his team’s top player, into 5-for-15 shooting for 11 points, five less than his average.
Siena used another visual aid to remind players of their defensive assignments. Special assistant AJ Register held up a board that showed headshots of each Siena player next to the uniform number of the player he was guarding.
“We just want to make sure we’re getting the right guys on the right players,” Christian said. “I think that’s really important. Just defensively or offensively, trying to find the smallest margin that can make the biggest difference, and I felt if we let Kadeem or even (injured forward Manny Camper) the opportunity to guard the other team’s best guy, that gives those guys a really strong role.”
It helped Siena that Fields, a Newburgh native, wasn’t even on the f loor for a stretch of 7:16 in the second half as the Saints pulled away from Cal Poly (3-9).
Fields drew his fourth foul on a conventional three-point play by Fisher that gave Siena a 41-36 lead with 14:03 left. By the time Fields checked back in, Siena was up 58-42 with 6:47 remaining.
“He’s really good, so getting him off the floor was good,” Fisher said. “I missed some easy ones there in the beginning, but (Pickett) did a really good job of finding me off that roll.”
Pickett assisted on seven of Fisher’s 11 baskets, continuing their strong connection. Pickett found Fisher for a layup on a pick-and-roll that gave Siena the lead for good at 38-36 with 14:44 to play. It began a 10-0 run that answered Cal Poly’s 13-0 run that had tied the score at 36.
“Evan Fisher’s a great player and coach puts us in positions to really see what the defense is doing and I trust him a lot,” Pickett said. “When I throw him the ball, he catches it.”
Siena shot 14-for-29 from beyond the arc, which tied the team’s most 3-pointers in a game since Nov. 25, 2001. Pickett and freshman forward Sloan Seymour of Shaker (12 points) made four each.
It was Siena’s first Sensory Friendly and Autism Awareness Game with the lights dimmed and public address system lowered to accommodate fans with autism and other special needs.
“It was just great to see everybody come out and support it,” Pickett said.