Siena Saints

Former Siena point guard Jalen Pickett has been a difference maker for the Nittany Lions.

In one of the greatest college basketball games in Capital Region history, Siena upset Ohio State in the 2009 NCAA Hoops Tournament. Relive it through these photos.

It has been a really rough stretch for the Siena men's basketball team here at the end of the regular season. They have lost five in a row

Bottom line: Siena will be a dangerous team in the MAAC tournament, but they need to clean up the unforced errors.

In the preseason MAAC men's basketball coaches poll, Siena was picked to come in sixth place. The Saints don't often get their deserved respect but they roll into Rider Friday night in second place in the conference with less than 2 weeks remaining in the regular season. Coach Carm and the green and gold are the last team to defeat Rick Patino and the first place Iona Gaels, who have won seven straight since.

The way Siena is constructed the point guard position is the biggest piece to the puzzle, and without McCollum things just don’t run as smoothly as they should.

It was a terrific game plan by Siena head coach Carmen Maciarello, who once again out coached Rick Pitino.

In November, Kathy Hochul became the first woman elected governor in New York State history. Hochul has weathered the storm, after taking office in the middle of Andrew Cumomo's tumultuous last term. The 57th governor of the Empire State delivered her State of the State address last week. So, what do Hochul's constituents think of the governor's job performance? A new Siena Poll has the answer.

It's still early in the MAAC conference schedule, but Siena is off to an impressive start. The Saints are built around Javian McCollum.

Anytime you can put 9,500 fans inside the MVP Arena and have a competitive game for the Albany Cup, it’s a win for the Capital Region basketball fans.

The names on the front of the jerseys will be the same but almost everything about this year's Albany Cup between Siena and UAlbany in men's basketball will be different. Since 2001, the two institutions of higher learning, separated by about 5 miles, battled 17 straight years in men's hoops. 16 times the game has been played in downtown Albany, in what is now the MVP Arena, Siena's home court during the season. In 2016, the game was played the only time at the SEFCU Arena, on the campus of UAlbany.

Head coach Carmen Maciariello has plenty of good parts including veteran leadership from Jackson Stormo and Jayce Johnson.