Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High near 45F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Higher wind gusts possible..
Tonight
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On the heels of what head coach Gerry McNamara called a devastating loss and facing the prospect of a short bench, the Siena men’s basketball team gutted out an 80-73 MAAC win over Sacred Heart at the Pitt Athletic & Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.
After the Saints went up by 15 with 6:43 left, the Pioneers clawed their way back to get within 70-69 with 1:30 left, but Siena’s Brendan Coyle hit a 3-pointer, and freshman sensation Gavin Doty made two big baskets down the stretch as the Saints pulled away.
Siena, which is trying to climb its way out of the midpack of the MAAC, improved to 7-8 in the conference and 12-14 overall, while Sacred Heart fell to 7-7 and 11-14.
The Saints were coming off a 65-64 loss at MVP Arena on Friday in which Siena missed 13 free throws.
“My kids are tough,” McNamara said in a post-game interview on ESPN+. “I’m really proud of them, to come in here and hold these guys to four 3’s, this is an explosive offensive team. We defended them for a long stretch.
“Late in the game, we gave up a couple high-post touches, but given the devastating loss against Marist at home, for my guys to come back here and play six [players] like we did, I’m very, very proud right now.”
Siena played without Myles Wilmoth, who had his right foot in a walking boot after having played against Marist, and Reid Ducharme. Starters Peter Carey and Marcus Jackson continue to be out for extended time because of injuries.
So McNamara left Doty, Coyle and Justice Shoats in there for all 40 minutes against Sacred Heart, and Major Freeman and Devin Brafford played 38 and 33 minutes, respectively.
Doty and Coyle scored 22 points each, and Shoats had 16 points and eight assists.
Coyle, of Niskayuna, made a 3 for a 73-69 lead with under 1:30 left, then Doty made a tough step-back jumper, drawing a foul for a free throw that put Siena up 76-71 with 35.9 seconds left.
The Saints forced a turnover that led to a breakaway dunk by Doty with 25 seconds left.
“The kid’s an animal,” McNamara said. “He goes after it, every single second, every possession. He wants it. It means something to him. And I love everything about how the kid prepares and plays. But that’s become par for the course for us. The kid has done it over and over again the last few weeks.
“He makes the big and-one late, Brendan Coyle makes the big 3 when we were stalling and holding late, I just can’t say enough about the big moments those two came up with in the last minute or two.”
The Saints have five regular-season games left, the next two of which will be at home next Friday and Sunday against Canisius and Niagara.
“We’ve got to get healthy,” McNamara said. “I’ve got two starters out. My starting center has missed eight straight games. We haven’t played at full strength for a long time.
“I give credit to these guys. I’m really proud of the resolve, the effort, but more importantly, to refocus and re-energize to come back after a devastating loss.”
