Siena runs away from Iona in second half to solidify MAAC lead

Playing second game since the passing of his father, Michael Baer led Siena with 18 points and 12 rebounds as Saints defeated Iona Friday. (Photo by Siena College Athletics)

ALBANY, N.Y. — Despite entering Friday's nationally televised home game against Iona with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference lead in its grasp, Siena was still looked at as an underdog, and understandably so.

With a Hall of Fame coach in Rick Pitino and one of the MAAC’s most talented rosters on the other side, the Gaels will never be taken lightly, even after splitting their last four contests going into MVP Arena.

But games are not played on paper, and the roller coaster on which Siena had spent most of the past week riding ended in a cathartic showing that left no doubt on who the team to beat in the MAAC truly was.

Playing with heavy hearts after forward Michael Baer lost his father to bladder cancer Sunday morning — just hours before the Saints’ game against Fairfield — and after honorary team member Evan Franz lost his own battle with brain cancer Monday, Siena let its collective emotions out with a commanding 70-53 win over Iona, holding the Gaels to just 17 points after halftime and coming out of the locker room on a 20-2 run to seize control and cruise to a win that will resonate throughout the rest of conference play.

“It was a tough week, I’m not going to lie,” head coach Carmen Maciariello admitted. “We barely practiced this week, we had some guys sick, we had some guys out with ailments. Some guys need two days off, some guys need three days off, but when it’s all said and done, they understood the game plan. We kept it simple and we played Siena basketball.”

“I think we did a good job just like we did in the first half, and we didn’t have those live-ball turnovers or those miscues. I thought we did a good job getting to the foul line, I thought we shared the ball and we made them guard. I thought guys really understood that tonight.”

Trailing 36-33 after an opening stanza that saw a 12-0 Iona run pull the visitors ahead by seven in the latter stages of the half, Siena (14-7, 8-2 MAAC) rallied together behind a renewed focus on what lied ahead over the final 20 minutes, limiting point guard Daniss Jenkins’ playmaking ability and using Jared Billups to lead the charge against Walter Clayton, Jr. and Berrick JeanLouis while Jackson Stormo battled Nelly Junior Joseph in the paint. A pair of 3-pointers by Andrew Platek started the game-changing run and put the Saints ahead to stay as the hosts used a strong defense to feed its offense down the stretch as Iona was unable to find a consistent rhythm.

“We had to stick to the game plan and keep playing the game, and our shots will come,” Platek recalled when asked about a potential halftime message in the locker room. “I felt like mine were kind of rushed in the first half, but as long as we were sticking to what we were doing on offense and what Carm has told us on the scout, as long as we stuck to that, we’d be successful.”

“We talk about having that growth mindset,” Maciariello expounded. “So many kids and young people struggle with perfection. They see it on social media, they see it all over the place. There’s nothing perfect about basketball, so we want to have that growth mindset, we want to be able to take that next-play mentality and we want to be able to stay in the present moment.”

The reality of the present moment was undoubtedly felt and exhibited best by Baer, who said playing on a night in which he recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Saints before flying back to his Iowa home this weekend for his father’s funeral services, which begin Sunday, was a no-brainer.

“My siblings and I were joking, (saying) my dad would probably roll over in his grave if I didn’t play,” Baer quipped with a smile. “It was never a question with that, never a question with the Fairfield game last week either. It meant a lot to me. My family obviously has been away while my dad’s been sick, and I know my mom’s real worried about me being out here on my own, but I think being at basketball every day, being around these guys, that I have my family here too. So that’s been meaningful to me and really helpful.”

“I think from the Fairfield game last week, everything being so fresh, I could feel all the eyeballs in the building on me and I felt like I was expected to act a certain way. I just wanted to come out and be me this week. I think I bring this team leadership and energy, and that’s what I wanted to do today. There’s nothing more I wanted to do than get a win, and I’m glad we were able to do that.”

Siena begins the second half of MAAC play Sunday on the road against an always-tough Marist team that will look to grind the Saints out in the tug-of-war style head coach John Dunne is known for. But what has changed in the Capital Region as Siena has won nine of its last 11 since a loss at Delaware on December 11 is the manifestation of the collective unity Maciariello spoke so effusively of during his team’s summer trip to Italy, now taking root in a run that is starting to mirror the way his first team ended a season three years ago that was cut off by the pandemic before the ultimate payoff could be attained.

“It’s about commitment,” a proud Maciariello gushed. “Jared, every time, he’s telling me, ‘let’s go win this one.’ We want to have that mindset every time we step on the floor, and these guys are echoing it. They’re doing it collectively, and we talked about that collective unity from Italy, carrying it over. We did have some pit stops, right? We did have some speed bumps with that Delaware game and that Georgetown game, a couple games we lost in conference, but we can’t relax. It’s the MAAC and it’s going to be a battle every single night.”

“Wins or losses, I’m proud of these guys. They come to work every day, they’re great people and I just think it’s a credit to them and their resolve. You can make excuses, you can let others make excuses for you, and we don’t do that. We come to work, we do the job, and I thought everyone did their job tonight. Our guys believe. No one else believed in them, we believe in each other. And that’s all you need.”