Before the season, there were many who felt Siena was more than just a mid-major team to watch this season. With five starters back from the team that convincingly knocked off Vanderbilt in last season’s NCAA Tournament, the general feeling was that the Saints would be prohibitive favorites in the MAAC and even win a game or two in non-conference play against high-major schools. They certainly had enough games on the schedule for that to happen.
Month: December 2008
A Surprising End to Siena’s Win over Holy Cross
It was a surprising scene to end the game. That’s the case not only because it happens so rarely, but also because of who was involved.
As the final seconds of Siena’s 83-71 win at Holy Cross ticked off the clock, Siena head coach Fran McCaffery motioned to all five of his players on the floor toward the exit. The Saints walked right out of the gym without shaking hands with the Holy Cross players and coaches.
San Francisco Finally Comes Home
It’s not often a long flight is a relief. But for San Francisco, their flight home after two games in Massachusetts is exactly that, and not just because they came away with losses in both.
Tennessee: Chism Leaves Vols’ Win on Stretcher
Tennessee junior forward Wayne Chism was carried off the court on a stretcher after blocking a shot by Louisiana-Lafayette’s La’Ryan Gary and landing on his back. Trainers placed a neck brace on Chism, who led the Volunteers to an 89-62 win with 18 points and 15 rebounds before the injury. […]
A bit of Practice Makes the Difference for Brown
They say practice makes perfect. For Brown, that has proven to be true recently in an unexpected way. The Bears, who improved to 5-6 on Monday with a convincing 89-73 win over Quinnipiac, had a stretch earlier in the month where they struggled just to practice. After their win over Hartford on December 9, the Bears practiced just twice in 12 days. Final exams were part of that, but so were injuries.
Jeremy Lin Makes Harvard Go
With a lot of attention focused on the freshmen, it can be easy to lose sight of Harvard’s best player thus far. Jeremy Lin is, after all, a holdover from last season, and even from the prior coaching staff. He’s a little different from the highly-touted newcomers on the roster.
Horizon Notebook: Greatest Week Ever (Ha!), Plus Four Ideas
Let it be first said in this space, loudly and clearly: the eight days stretching from Friday December 19th, 2008 through Friday December 26th, 2008 likely were the greatest single week in the history of the Horizon League. And that would make last night—Tuesday December 23, 2008—the greatest single night.
Hofstra Has Plenty of Options
With the non-conference slate in the books, save for a BracketBusters date in February, Hofstra will head into the meat of Colonial Athletic Association play looking better than a year ago. At that time, the Pride had struggled to a 2-8 mark, including a CAA loss early in December. This time around, they will enter at 9-3, including a 90-79 win at Towson on December 6.
Aeropostale Holiday Festival Wrap-Up
A day after handily defeating Marist in the semifinal, St.John’s met their match. Virginia Tech defeated the Red Storm 81-67 before slightly over 2000 at Madison Square Garden . The win gave Virginia Tech a second straight Aeropostale Holiday Festival title. Tech defeated St.John’s is last year’s championship.
Notes From the BABC/Stop & Shop Holiday Classic Shoot-Out
Friday began the three-day BABC/Stop & Shop Holiday Classic Shoot-Out. The 13th annual event tried to be a major event in its early days, bringing in several teams each year that had high-major prospects and/or national reputations. But after that failed to get big crowds of both fans and college coaches, the event kept things closer to home. This year’s event features just one team from outside the state of Massachusetts, and Windsor, CT is not far from Hartford. Chelsea High School remains the host.
