Siena hopeful that rest of homestand can lift Saints back into MAAC contention

With his Siena team in a similar position to where it was on way to MAAC regular season title two years ago, Carmen Maciariello is optimistic in Saints’ potential to find another gear in stretch drive. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Two years ago today, Siena awakened to the afterglow of a resounding 23-point win over Iona, the Saints’ first road victory of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and one that set the wheels in motion for a winning streak and run through February and March that had all the makings of an unforgettable stretch before COVID-19 halted a potential coronation.

The Saints reloaded last year and repeated as regular season champions in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference before being upended by Iona in the MAAC tournament, and two years to the day of their season-changing win in New Rochelle, find themselves in a similar position to mount a rally Tuesday, when Siena resumes a four-game homestand that has already yielded a pair of wins by welcoming Canisius inside the newly christened MVP Arena, formerly known as Times Union Center.

“We’ve still got some work to do,” head coach Carmen Maciariello admitted after Siena lost to Iona last week, a defeat whose aftertaste dissipated with wins over Niagara and Quinnipiac. “I do think having guys in and out of the lineup, being able to get Jayce (Johnson) back to kind of who we knew he could be, I thought that was a positive. We’ve gotta have all our guys clicking on all cylinders. Not having Javian McCollum hurt us because he’s a guy that can make plays and get guys open, he can penetrate, he has good floor vision.”

“We have a high ceiling. I still think we have some way to go to be a finished product, but the good thing is we have a four-game homestand to get right.”

At 8-8 and 5-3 in MAAC play, Siena is almost exactly where it stood two years ago after losing to Saint Peter’s, a setback that dropped the Saints to 10-10 and 4-6 in league action. Maciariello has intimated a desire to play faster and with more of an uptempo style, but while that has still yet to manifest itself consistently, the emergence of junior sharpshooter Colby Rogers as a perimeter threat alongside the interior presence of Jackson Stormo has given the Saints two formidable focal points on offense similar to how Jalen Pickett and Manny Camper steered the ship in 2019-20. Guards Aidan Carpenter and Nick Hopkins have chipped in to offer indispensable production a la Donald Carey and Jordan King, while Anthony Gaines has developed into one of the premier two-way players in the conference. And when freshmen Jared Billups and Javian McCollum are added to the conversation, the prevailing opinion is that the early tribulations are merely teachable moments for a group poised to hit its best stride at the most opportune of times.

“We’re still pretty confident,” Rogers said. “I look at it like a learning step, learning a lesson. I think we can watch film of these games, go to practice, learn from it and continue to develop. There’s still quite a bit of season left, and we’re all just preparing for March. That three-game stretch is the most important stretch. I just look at it as a learning experience, and we just have to keep putting one foot forward.”