Feb. 10, 2008

Final Stats

ALBANY, N.Y. - Josh Duell gathered Kenny Hasbrouck's feed and let fly a 25-foot 3-pointer that swished through the net with 1.3 seconds left to give Siena a thrilling 80-77 road win over Rider Sunday at sold out Alumni Gymnasium. With the win, Siena pulls even with the Broncs at 11-3 atop the MAAC standings.

"It was a tremendous college basketball game," head coach Fran McCaffery said. "We beat a great team - a very well coached team. It's a great victory to be able to beat this team on their floor."

The victory snapped Rider's 10-game winning streak, which was the nation's fourth longest at the start of play today.

Siena offset 26 points and a school-record 24 rebounds from Rider senior star Jason Thompson with a balanced attack.

Alex Franklin had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Saints inside, but point guard Ronald Moore was the difference in the game. Moore had 17 points and nine assists. He pushed the tempo all afternoon, keeping Rider off balance and allowing Siena to score time and again in transition and off made baskets.

Kenny Hasboruck had another solid game, adding 18 points and three assists and Duel ended with 14 points.

Rider rallied from a 10-point first half deficit to take a 38-34 lead at the break, but Siena pulled ahead early in the second half and led until Thompson hit a short jumper with 3:08 to go that put the Broncs back up 71-69.

Ryan Thompson's fast break layup pushed the lead to six, 75-69, with 1:58 left, but Siena stormed back for the second straight game, pulling even on an acrobatic layup by Duell with 57 seconds left. After Jason Thompson made one of two free throws to give Rider the lead back, Moore drove past the Rider defense for a layup that gave Siena a 77-76 lead with 34 seconds to go.

Thompson again was fouled, and after missing the first free throw, tied the game with the second with 16 seconds left.

Holding for the last shot, the Saints set up Hasbrouck at the top of the key. He drove right, and, after being double teamed, alertly found Duell who was well behind the 3-point line. The junior's do-or-die attempt connected and, after both teams took a timeout, Jason Thompson's potential game-tying 3-pointer came up just short.

"The whole play was made by Kenny Hasbrouck," Duell said. "He's a great player and he didn't force (the action). He saw I was open and found me."

Siena improved to 6-1 in MAAC road games this season. The win opens up the MAAC race with four games left, as instead of falling two games back and losing the season series to Rider, the title is up for grabs.

The Saints first test toward securing it comes Saturday at home against contender Loyola, which defeated the Saints by 29 points in Baltimore last month.