March 9, 2008

Box Score GALLERY

Albany, N.Y. - Junior forward Josh Duell scored his only basket of the game with 20 seconds to go capping off a miraculous comeback from 17 points down as the Saints stunned Loyola this evening in the MAAC Tournament Semis, 65-63. Sophomore forward Alex Franklin had another monster game posting 22 points and 12 rebounds, propelling Siena to the Tournament Championship game for a second consecutive year.

After Siena (21-10) took a 12-11 lead on a free throw by Alex Franklin at the 12:36 mark, the Greyhounds (19-14) erupted with a 27-9 run over the following nine minutes building a lead of 17 (38-21) capped off by a Brian Rudolph three.

The Greyhounds connected on five first half threes, but the Saints reeled off seven quick points to end the half to pull within 38-28 at intermission. Franklin posted 16 of Siena's 28 first half points.

In the second half Siena would continue to slowly chip away at the deficit, getting as close as four (45-41) on a Franklin lay-up with 12:12 remaining. The Green and Gold dominated the paint throughout, posting a 36-22 edge in points in the paint.

Unable to get any closer than four for most of the half, the Saints finally cut the deficit to two on a Kenny Hasbrouck jumper off an inbounds with 2:16 to go. The junior stepped up in the second half when it mattered most, scoring all 17 of his points after intermission.

After the Saints earned a tie at 63 on a Franklin tip-in moments later, it was Duell who came up as the unlikely hero. Scoreless over his first 27 minutes of action, Duell took a feed from Hasbrouck and hit an off-balance shot off the window as he was getting fouled to send the partisan Siena crowd into bedlam.

The Greyhounds would get two final chances to answer back, but the final shot attempt by Rudolph was swatted away by Franklin to send the Saints into the Championship game. The Saints played outstanding team defense down the stretch, holding Loyola scoreless over the final 3:43 of the contest.

Siena placed four in double figures, led by Franklin and Hasbrouck along with Edwin Ubiles and Ronald Moore who added 14 and 10 respectively. Marquis Sullivan came off the bench to lead all Loyola scorers with 14 points, connecting on four of his seven three point attempts.

The Saints will face the winner of tonight's other semifinal game between #2 seed Rider and #6 seed Marist tomorrow night at Times Union Center. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. in a nationally televised broadcast on ESPN2.