Billups gives Saints a lift
Saints 4-0 with guard as starter heading into Manhattan game
Siena men’s basketball coach Carmen Maciariello said he wanted “young energy” when he inserted freshman guard Jared Billups into the starting lineup four games ago at Saint Peter’s.
The Saints have won all four games as Billups has given them that energetic play and more.
He’s averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 34 minutes per game along with relentless defense during the winning streak entering Siena’s game at Manhattan on Friday at Draddy Gymnasium.
“I think that’s always my goal — to, like, bring energy and play good defense,” the 6-foot-4, 189-pound Billups said before Wednesday’s practice. “I think that’s one of the main things (Maciariello) brought to my attention, even during the summer. But I think as games have been going on, he’s been letting me play more free and easy and giving more opportunities and things like that when I’m out there on the floor.”
He helped Siena rally from a 17-point deficit in the second half. He scored 11 points, matching his career-high from the previous game. The Saints outscored the Red Foxes by 19 points while Billups was on the floor.
His steal and acrobatic layup for a three-point play in the final minute helped salt away the victory.
“Jared brings a lot of energy,” Siena graduate guard Anthony Gaines said. “He’s a hard-working player. We love everything he brings to this team, defensively, offensively. You see him sky for offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds. He’s one of those guys, he does all the dirty work. He guards the other team’s best player, rebounds, he hits open 3s and he does everything that contributes to us winning.”
Billups, who is from Waldorf, Md., said it didn’t take him long to adjust to the competition when he came in against Siena’s older transfers.
“I think the biggest thing during the summer, me and (freshman guard) Javian (Mccollum), we were just trying to learn,” Billups said. “The game was so fast, even
were focused. We are maturing as a group, we are maturing as a team. We are learning to play with the lead and learning how to expand with the lead. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling now.”
Senior guard Jamel Horton added 15 points, with his basket giving the Great Danes a lead of 62-54 with 1:19 left in the game and his free throws all but sealing the win with 48.2 seconds left to make it 64-54.
“A well-needed road win, the first road win in the league,” said Horton, who had six assists. “We have to keep this momentum going, take it home with us for Stony Brook on Saturday.”
It was the fourth game in eight days for the Retrievers, due to rescheduling because of COVID -19 concerns.
“It was a great win for us; we held them to 32 percent in the second half. They are a really good team and kept coming at you. But we stayed with our game plan,” said Killings, the first-year coach of the Great Danes.
The Great Danes took a lead of 24-11 with 7:35 left in the first half on a basket by freshman Justin Neely, who came off the bench to score seven points in the first half.
But the hosts tied the game at 26 with 3:35 remaining before halftime
with a 3-pointer from L.J. Owens.
Ualbany led 30-28 at the break behind the play of Cerruti, Neely and Paul Newman, who had six points in the first half.
“You know teams are going to make a run. This game is about responding,” Horton said. “We are growing up as a team; we have closed out games so much better.”
Ualbany (7-10, 3-2) also got eight rebounds from Newman and six from Horton. The Great Danes had just nine turnovers and only two in the second half.
UMBC (6-10, 1-4) was paced by Keondre Kennedy, who had a teamhigh 14 points and 11 from Nathan Johnson.
Ualbany continues to learn to play without Baltimore native De’vondre Perry, who is out for the year with an injury after averaging a team-high 12.8 points per contest. He started the first 15 games this season.
“He is one of the best players in the league,” Horton said. “We can’t expect one person to pick up the slack, we have to do it as a team.”
The Great Danes were coming off a 71-56 win over NJIT on Saturday.
Ualbany returns to action this coming Saturday, playing host to Stony Brook at 7 p.m. Killings noted four players are out for the season with injuries.
“Just a great road win for our program,” Killings said. “Adversity gives an opportunity for growth.”
Notes: Graduate forward Jarvis Doles, who entered the game averaging 5.6 points per contest for Ualbany, went to high school at Hammond in nearby Columbia, Md. He is from Baltimore and transferred from Drexel. Doles had six boards against UMBC; he and graduate guard Chuck Champion are the only two players to play in the first 17 games. Doles had about 20 family and friends on hand, according to Killings.