Photo Courtesy of Mike Dickie
Posted: Feb 02, 2021
This Week's Schedule
Wednesday, February 3rd | 8:00 PM *
Siena Heights Saints VS Lourdes Gray Wolves
Friday, February 5th | 8:00 PM *
Siena Heights Saints VS UNOH Racers
Sunday, February 7th | 2:00 PM *
Siena Heights Saints VS Lawrence Tech Blue Devils
Upcoming for Saints Men's Basketball: After a tough loss last week on the road to Indiana Tech. The Saints look ahead to this week's matchups, where they will have 3 Home games. Disappointed with the final results, the Men's team looks forward to facing Lourdes University, the University of Northwestern Ohio, and Lawrence Tech. All 3 games are conference games and could turn the Men's program around.
Head Coach: Joe Pechota enters his ninth year as the Siena Heights men's basketball coach. The Saints saw their most successful season under Pechota during the 2018-19 season when the team finished 17-13 overall and 12-8 in conference play to earn fourth in the WHAC standings, the highest finish since 2010.
At Home in the WHAC: Siena Heights is 0-1 this season in WHAC games played at the SHU Fieldhouse. The first contest was a 95-54 loss to Cornerstone last Wednesday that gave the Saints a 0-1 start in league play.
Series History: Lourdes - The grey wolves lead the series 12-8, winning the last games against the Saints. In 2018, the Saints came away with a big win with a final score of 93-78.
UNOH - Siena Heights is 11-12 against UNOH. The Racers won the last matchup at home in 2020 82-81 that broke SHUs four-game winning streak in the last three seasons.
Lawrence Tech - SHU is 13-3 against the Blue Devils. LTU won the last matchup over the Saints and are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings.
Last Week Recap: Siena lost all 3 games, Cornerstone won 95-54 leading scorer Tyler Baker with 15 points. Concordia won 81-66 leading scorer, Zackary Johnson, with 22 points, and Indiana Tech won 82-62, the leading scorer Kevin Rice with 28 points.
The Saints led by Senior F Kevin Rice who scored 28 points (career-high) in the last game against Indiana Tech. He is currently leading the team in scoring with 16.0 PPG, followed by Junior Curtis Bell with 11.7 PPG. SHU hasn't been able to find many good looks as they currently shoot 22.2-58.0 (38.4%). Shooting 13.2-20.8 (63.9%) from the FT line as a group.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game sparked by a three-pointer from Zackary Johnson. The Saints chipped away as they went on a 14-2 run sparked by a three-pointer from Brendan Williamson (Fr. | Center Grove, Ind.) and ended with Elijah Kimmons (Fr. | Madison, Wis.) draining a three-point shot. That run cut the deficit to five points (32-37) with four minutes left in the first half. Concordia scored 14 points compared to Siena's eight to send the game into intermission with the Cardinals in the lead 48-35.
The Warriors jumped out with a 9-3 run as Max Perez drained a three-point shot at the 16-minute mark. Indiana Tech gained some cushion as they earned a 9-point lead (21-12) that lasted till 10 minutes left in the half. The Saints rallied as they went on a 11-3 run that ended with a three-pointer from Rice that cut the deficit to one point (22-21). The remainder of the half was back and forth as the teams exchanged possessions, but Indiana Tech had a 14-5 run that sent the game into intermission with the game in their favor 43-33.
The Golden Eagles came out hot as they earned a 13-0 run and never looked back. The Saints struggled offensively against Cornerstone's defense as they only shot 15% in the first half. Siena attempted to make a comeback as they cut the margin to 20 points (34-14) with a pair of layup made by Jordan Wyckoff (Sr. | Detroit, Mich.) but it wouldn't be enough as the Golden Eagles scored 13 straight points to end the first half with a score of 47-17. Despite the struggle, the Saints had some bright spots in their game during the first half as they were a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line while Wyckoff and Bell charge offensively as they respectively earned six points.
