Within the next few weeks, Siena's 2006-07 freshman class may expand from four players to five.
The fifth freshman? He could be a player with whom the Saints are already quite familiar.

The scholarship made available by the transfer of Levi Osby may open the door for Cory Magee, a 6-foot-8 rebounding specialist from Fairport High School (near Rochester) whom Siena failed to land this past fall, to end up in Loudonville.

Magee chose Canisius last November, but when the school fired coach Mike MacDonald after the season, Magee changed his mind. Magee said Monday night he expects to be released from his letter of intent, allowing him to essentially become a free agent.

Siena College held its annual men's basketball awards banquet on Monday evening, April 10 at the Albany Marriott on Wolf Road. With Capital News 9 sports anchor Damian Andrew serving as emcee, over 300 fans and alumni recognized the successful career of senior Antoine Jordan and looked back upon the surprising 2005-2006 season.

Coaches and administrators, including Siena president Fr. Kevin Mackin, vice president Fr. James Toal and Albany county executive Michael Breslin were in attendance to pay tribute to Jordan as well as the annual award winners.

The Dan Cuhna Defensive Player of the Year Award was presented to freshman Kenny Hasbrouck. Hasbrouck was named the MAAC Tournament Rookie of the Year after one of the top freshman seasons in school history. Hasbrouck led the college basketball Saints with 52 steals (1.9/game). He scored 12.4 points and averaged 4.3 rebounds per game.

Sophomore Tay Fisher won the Jim Sullivan Most Improved Player award. Fisher improved his scoring average over six points from his freshman season. He started all 28 games for Siena leading the team with 76 3-pointers. Fisher averaged 11.0 points per game this season.

Siena College and Pepsi Arena officials announced today a four-year extension to their agreement, making the downtown Albany facility the home for Siena men's basketball through 2010. The men's basketball program at Siena has been playing games in the Arena since its opening in 1990, and made its full-time move prior to the 1997-98 season nine years ago.

"Siena basketball is one of our greatest attractions and is a significant part of our overall success at the Pepsi Arena," said Albany County Executive Mike Breslin. "I am happy we are continuing the tradition of top flight Division I basketball at the Arena."

The move comes on the heels of a milestone year for Siena basketball at Pepsi Arena. This past season, the Siena men's team played its 150th game at the Arena (against Rider January 7) and drew its 1-millionith fan (in the season finale against Niagara February 25).

"The relationship with Siena College is outstanding," said Bob Belber, General Manager of the Pepsi Arena. "We are happy to extend the agreement to host all of the Siena Saints men's basketball games in the Pepsi Arena for the next four seasons. On behalf of SMG (which manages the Pepsi Arena) and its owner, Albany County, we are very proud of the many accomplishments that the Siena men's basketball program has achieved over the years and we look forward to helping them reach even higher goals in the future."

The Siena men have played 158 games at Pepsi Arena, drawing a total of 1,000,216 fans, an average of 6,330 per game. Since making the full-time move nine years ago, 774,222 fans have attended Siena games, an average of 6,294 for 123 games. Since the move, Siena has regularly ranked in the top-100 in NCAA Division I Championship Tournament attendance. It is one of a select few mid-major schools nationwide that can make this claim and one of just two with an enrollment under 3,000 to consistently rank in the top-100. In 2002-03, a record 125,156 fans (7,362 per game) turned out for Siena's 17 games at the Arena. That total placed 66th among all Division I schools and fourth nationally for mid-major programs.

As a 1991 Siena graduate and a current corporate sponsor/season-ticket holder for the men's basketball team, I have finally read the last straw over the UAlbany loss in the NCAA Tournament.

In a letter published March 26 ("Nothing compares to UAlbany's near upset"), Jim Murray makes the claim that "Not even Siena's upset of Stanford in the 1989 NCAA Tournament could compare to UAlbany's nail-biting first round contest versus the No. 1 seed, UConn." This is a ridiculous statement. How can UAlbany's double-digit loss, to a team that obviously wasn't playing very well, be considered "the most scintillating team performance" to have ever graced the Capital Region's eyes? And to say Siena's epic win against Stanford doesn't compare?

Siena won its conference tournament and first NCAA trip in 1989 with no fans in the building because of the measles epidemic, then captivated the nation by beating Stanford as a huge underdog. (By the way, Siena is 2-3 overall in its three NCAA trips, including a "close" loss to eventual national champion Maryland in 1992).

THE GOOD NEWS
You take a team that was picked to finish 10th in a 10-team league, you finish fourth in the regular-season standings, you get a bye and have all but one of your players back next season. It all looks good for Siena as Fran McCaffery gets ready for his second season.

THE BAD NEWS
It's never easy to replace a guy like Antoine Jordan, the All-MAAC guard who led this team in every way -- McCaffery called him "perhaps the best senior leader I have ever coached." He'll be missed.

KEY RETURNEES
Guard Kenny Hasbrouck was the MAAC Rookie of the Year this season and leads a maturing group that should win even more games next year. Guard Kojo Mensah averaged 16.6 points and 6.3 rebounds and led the Saints with 114 assists and 71 steals.

ROSTER REPORT


--Guard Kenny Hasbrouck, the MAAC Rookie of the Year, finished with a 12.4 scoring average and also grabbed 4.3 rebounds per game while compiling 72 assists to go with 48 turnovers. He was also 31-for-76 (40.8 percent) from 3-point range.

--Senior guard Antoine Jordan did a little bit of everything for this team. He scored at a 17.1 clip and also led the team with 8.1 rebounds per game while chipping in with 83 assists, 43 steals and 16 blocked shots. He wound up 20th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,232 points.

ALBANY -- His mother fled her seat and watched from the concourse, peaking around a curtain that shielded her view of the entire court, except the basket. His wife watched from just behind Siena's bench, her body almost perfectly aligned with Mike Beers' as he fired the jump shot. And Fran McCaffery looked on from about 10 feet to Beers' right, leaning forward, as if trying to will the ball through the hoop.I felt like that baby was going in," McCaffery said.

Instead the shot -- and with it the season -- came up just short.

After 15 regular-season victories, an improbable fourth-place finish and a stomach-churning 40 minutes of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament basketball, the Siena men's basketball team's season ended in tears, sighs and looks of disbelief. The Saints lost to Saint Peter's 63-62 in front of a green-and-gold-biased crowd of 8,449 at Pepsi Arena.

Siena, which trailed for almost the entire second half, came within inches of prolonging its fairy-tale season. But Beers' shot, released with about 4 seconds on the clock, clanked off the rim. His follow, a wild, one-handed put-back attempt, missed even the backboard.

The Saints -- picked to finish in last place, using a rotation of just seven players, claiming just one senior -- ran out of magic.

"I have never been more proud," McCaffery said, his voice wavering, eyes reddening.

After the final shot, McCaffery found Beers behind the Siena bench; he draped his arm over the junior guard's shoulder, and they left the court together. Kenny Hasbrouck pulled his shirt over his face. Kojo Mensah slumped into a chair.

Players said McCaffery paused several times during his postgame address to the team, partly as he sought for the right words, partly as he fought back his emotions. His wife said she never before saw him cry after a loss.

"This season was very special to him," Margaret McCaffery said

The Special Olympics New York basketball team took on Siena College in a friendly game on Wednesday.

First a 15 minute practice, then the two teams went face to face during a 5 minute scrimmage.

Afterwards, Key Bank was on-hand to present tickets to all of the Devil Dogs players to attend Siena's last regular season game against Niagra, this Saturday at the Pepsi.

In total, local businesses donated 700 tickets to the game to youth programs around the area.

Devil Dogs player Charles Probst says, "It's awesome because I never played with Siena College and you know, I'm glad to be in the Special Olympics with these guys."

Siena Saints player Mike Haddix says, "It feels good to give back, because a lot of people watch us and a lot of people follow us so the support we get, it's great to just give it out to other people."

And if you're wondering, the Devil Dogs beat the Siena Saints during the scrimmage!

LOUDONVILLE -- Tay Fisher said the injury he suffered Sunday against
rider could have been worse. Because of the way he extended and leaped for a rebound, then landed awkwardly on his right leg, he risked injury to his ankle, knee and foot.Instead, he hurt his pinkie toe.

"But this wasn't like hitting your toe on the coffee table," Fisher said. "This really hurt."

It hurts enough, in fact, that Fisher is questionable for tonight's game against
loyola at Pepsi Arena.

Still, Siena appears to have escaped Sunday's game without any long-term injuries.

Kenny Hasbrouck, who bruised his right knee in the closing minutes of that game, plans to play. And though Fisher said he may miss as much as a week, he refused to rule himself out for tonight. He said he did not break any bones or tear any ligaments or tendons; he sprained his last two toes.

"At least it wasn't my big toe," Fisher said. "That would have hurt even more."

Neither Fisher nor Hasbrouck practiced Monday, but both walked around without crutches and shot a few baskets.

If Fisher cannot play, junior guard Mike Beers replaces him in the starting lineup. Beers, who is 5 inches taller than the 5-foot-9 Fisher, has been Siena's top option off the bench. He averages 4.5 points in 16.7 minutes but is shooting just 31 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range.

Kojo Mensah also had a solid outing for Siena (12-11, 7-8 MAAC), scoring 17 points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists. Antoine Jordan and Tay Fisher also posted 17 points apiece in the victory, while Mike Beers contributed 12 points off the bench.

Jason Thompson and Terrance Mouton both scored 17 points in the loss for
rider (8-15, 4-11).

The Saints connected on 6-of-13 shots from long range in the opening frame and held Rider to a meager 31.3 percent shooting effort from the field to take a solid 46-30 advantage into the break.

In the second stanza, Siena shot 46.2 percent from the field and connected on 21-of-24 shots from the foul line en route to the 19-point victory.

The Saints made an impressive 33-of-39 shots from the charity stripe in the contest, while Rider connected on just 13-of-23 attempts from the free throw line.

Akron, OH -- Rob Preston and Romeo Travis both tallied 16 points in leading the Akron Zips to a 75-53 win over the .
western michiganBroncos in Mid-American Conference play from Rhodes Arena.

Nick Dials, who connected on all three of his three-point shots, finished with 11 points in the win for the Zips (17-5, 10-2 MAC) as well.

The Broncos (9-13, 6-6) were paced by Joe Reitz and Stane's Bufford who tallied 10 points apiece in the setback.

Despite missing their only chance at the free-throw line in the first half, the zips raced out to a 40-25 lead at the break thanks to 53.3 percent shooting from the field and 8-of-11 beyond the arc.

In the second half, in addition to shooting 52 percent from the floor, Akron held WMU to a mere six field goals as the home team cruised to the 22-point decision.

The Zips finished the night converting 10-of-18 beyond the arc, compared to just 2-of-13 for the Broncos, who lost for the second straight gamezips