Saints face test against rugged Quinnipiac in their conference opener
If the Siena men's basketball team lacked emotion and desire at times in a loss to Fordham four days ago, those qualities will be tested to the fullest against the most rugged team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on Friday night.
The Saints open their league schedule against Quinnipiac, which leads Division I in rebounding margin, at Times Union Center.
"It's a big game for us and we really need to play well, Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said.
Patsos said his big men didn't show enough fire in the 69-67 defeat to the Rams in the Bronx. Junior forward Brett Bisping agreed.
"Definitely, we need to be held accountable for that," Bisping said. "I think we need to play with more emotion because basketball's an emotional game."
The Saints (2-3) were outworked for a significant chunk of the first half by Fordham, which didn't sit well with Patsos. Bisping said that must improve.
"I think we've showed spurts where we've played tough, but it's maybe been for 36 minutes in a game," Bisping said. "We've never done it the whole 40, for the games we've lost. So I think we've got to put together 40 minutes of it."
That might be necessary against the Bobcats (3-2), who are coming off an 89-73 victory over the same Vermont team that defeated Siena at Times Union Center earlier this season. Quinnipiac also edged UAlbany 76-73 in overtime on Nov. 22 at SEFCU Arena.
Quinnipiac outrebounded Vermont 40-16 and grabbed more offensive boards (17) than the Catamounts had total.
"We're going to have to rebound," Bisping said. "It's going to be very important for this game."
The Bobcats have a national-best rebounding edge of plus-16.4 per game, continuing the program's identity ever since Tom Moore became head coach seven years ago. Remarkably, Quinnipiac has outrebounded opponents in 86 percent of its games under Moore and has lost the rebounding battle only twice in its past 69 games.
"It's been something that we've consistently done," Moore said. "We always try to have big guys at the 4 (power forward) and the 5 (center)."
A prime example of that is Quinnipiac center Ousmane Drame, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior who is coming off a 33-point, 13-rebound performance against Vermont.
Drame is averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. The Bobcats also have a top-notch guard in 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior Zaid Hearst, who averages a team-high 19.4 points per game.
Moore said he's aware of the critical comments Patsos made about the Saints after the Fordham game and has warned his team to be ready for Siena's best on Friday.
"You're never going to catch a soft Jimmy Patsos-coached team," Moore said. "I told our guys you expect (Siena's) 'A' game every time you play them. The neat thing about going up there is, their crowds are so good, it's going to be an eye-opener for our freshmen to experience that."
Patsos said he'll put 6-8 sophomore Javion Ogunyemi of Troy back in the starting lineup at center on Friday after he came off the bench the past two games.
It's clear the Saints could use the inside presence of senior center Imoh Silas, out for the year with a knee injury. He attended Friday's practice.
"Imoh was just a toughness guy," Bisping said. "Strong, athletic, rim protector. We definitely miss him."
He's not coming back this season. But Patsos thinks the Fordham loss could give his team the jolt it needed.
"I really like this team and things are going well for us now because we had to be woken up," Patsos said.
If the Siena men's basketball team lacked emotion and desire at times in a loss to Fordham four days ago, those qualities will be tested to the fullest against the most rugged team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on Friday night.
The Saints open their league schedule against Quinnipiac, which leads Division I in rebounding margin, at Times Union Center.
"It's a big game for us and we really need to play well, Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said.
Patsos said his big men didn't show enough fire in the 69-67 defeat to the Rams in the Bronx. Junior forward Brett Bisping agreed.
"Definitely, we need to be held accountable for that," Bisping said. "I think we need to play with more emotion because basketball's an emotional game."
The Saints (2-3) were outworked for a significant chunk of the first half by Fordham, which didn't sit well with Patsos. Bisping said that must improve.
"I think we've showed spurts where we've played tough, but it's maybe been for 36 minutes in a game," Bisping said. "We've never done it the whole 40, for the games we've lost. So I think we've got to put together 40 minutes of it."
That might be necessary against the Bobcats (3-2), who are coming off an 89-73 victory over the same Vermont team that defeated Siena at Times Union Center earlier this season. Quinnipiac also edged UAlbany 76-73 in overtime on Nov. 22 at SEFCU Arena.
Quinnipiac outrebounded Vermont 40-16 and grabbed more offensive boards (17) than the Catamounts had total.
"We're going to have to rebound," Bisping said. "It's going to be very important for this game."
The Bobcats have a national-best rebounding edge of plus-16.4 per game, continuing the program's identity ever since Tom Moore became head coach seven years ago. Remarkably, Quinnipiac has outrebounded opponents in 86 percent of its games under Moore and has lost the rebounding battle only twice in its past 69 games.
"It's been something that we've consistently done," Moore said. "We always try to have big guys at the 4 (power forward) and the 5 (center)."
A prime example of that is Quinnipiac center Ousmane Drame, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior who is coming off a 33-point, 13-rebound performance against Vermont.
Drame is averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. The Bobcats also have a top-notch guard in 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior Zaid Hearst, who averages a team-high 19.4 points per game.
Moore said he's aware of the critical comments Patsos made about the Saints after the Fordham game and has warned his team to be ready for Siena's best on Friday.
"You're never going to catch a soft Jimmy Patsos-coached team," Moore said. "I told our guys you expect (Siena's) 'A' game every time you play them. The neat thing about going up there is, their crowds are so good, it's going to be an eye-opener for our freshmen to experience that."
Patsos said he'll put 6-8 sophomore Javion Ogunyemi of Troy back in the starting lineup at center on Friday after he came off the bench the past two games.
It's clear the Saints could use the inside presence of senior center Imoh Silas, out for the year with a knee injury. He attended Friday's practice.
"Imoh was just a toughness guy," Bisping said. "Strong, athletic, rim protector. We definitely miss him."
He's not coming back this season. But Patsos thinks the Fordham loss could give his team the jolt it needed.
"I really like this team and things are going well for us now because we had to be woken up," Patsos said.
