Saints come up just short
Siena builds 15-point lead in the first half, but can’t defeat Canisius in MAAC battle
The Siena men’s basketball team endured punishing summer workouts to get ready to play their first season under head coach Jamion Christian.
The Saints figured when the time came, they’d be shuttling in nine or 10 players in Christian’s “Mayhem” system. Instead, they’re down to a rotation of basically a half-dozen because of injuries.
With just eight scholarship players who were dressed, the Saints blew a 15-point lead and lost to Canisius 70-66 before a season-high crowd of 6,432 at Times Union Center on Saturday night.
But freshman forward Sloan Seymour of Shaker refused to use tired legs as an excuse, saying the Saints (5-10 overall, 0-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) are in shape.
“We’ve trained,” said Seymour, who had 15 points on 5-for12 3-point shooting. “Coaches put us in situations over the offseason where we had heavy legs and we were just breathing really heavy, so we’re ready for it.”
The Saints had five players in suits on the bench, including three who are hurt: junior forward Sammy Friday, who’s out following knee surgery, sophomore forward Manny Camper, who missed his fourth straight game with a left lower-leg injury,
and freshman forward Jimmy Ratliff, who fractured a pinky finger in Thursday’s loss at Saint Peter’s.
The others were sophomore guard Don Carey, sitting out as a transfer from Mount St. Mary’s, and graduate forward Elijah Burns of Troy, who on Friday learned the NCA A denied his waiver request to play immediately.
And one shouldn’t forget junior guard Khalil Richard, considered a key piece, lost for the year to a preseason knee injury.
“We have a lot of guys down there in suits, but those guys can’t help us on the f loor,” Christian said. “The group we’ve got on the floor, the guys in that locker room, they’re laying it on the line every single day, and they’re getting better every single day, and I don’t think most of the teams in this league could handle that. We don’t believe in excuses. That won’t be an excuse for us.”
Four of Siena’s five starters logged at least 35 minutes with freshman point guard Jalen Pickett going the entire 40 and senior forward Evan Fisher putting in 37.
Both came up with double-doubles. Fisher had the first of his career with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Pickett had 14 points and 11 assists to go with seven rebounds.
“Like coach said, just next man up,” Pickett said. “We’ve got to keep going and embrace the challenge.”
Two nights after falling behind by 19 points against Saint Peter’s, the Saints instead put the Golden Griffins in their rear-view mirror behind torrid 3-point shooting.
Siena shot 9-for-22 from behind the arc in the first half, including a barrage of six 3-pointers in a 3-minute, 23-second span to go ahead 21-13 with 11 minutes to play. The Saints built their largest lead at 3217 on Pickett’s backcourt steal and layup with 6:44 left in the half.
But Canisius (5-8, 2-0) roared back in the second half behind sophomore guard Takal Molson (23 points) and junior guard Isaiah Reese (20 points), the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.
The Golden Griffins took the lead for good at 59-58 on Jalanni White’s short jumper in the lane with 5:47 to play.
Seymour made a 3-pointer from the right side to draw Siena within 64-63 with 35.2 seconds left, but missed another long one that would have tied it with 9.5 left.
Then Molson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but rebounded his own miss and got fouled again. He made both free throws for a 68-63 lead.
“I’ve got to get the ball,” Fisher said. “He got it over my back. I didn’t do a good enough job boxing out.”
Canisius shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.
The lack of depth has forced Christian to severely curtail the trapping and pressing that are staples of his “Mayhem” system.
“The biggest thing you try to do as a coach is try to put your team in a position to be successful,” he said. “The depth can affect you, but I’ve trapped and pressed with six players. The encouraging thing is, our half-court defense continues to improve.”
Siena plays at Marist on Friday.