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Siena men’s basketball fan Erin Tobin of Rensselaer made the toughest shot of the night and then said “yes” to her boyfriend.
The Saints sank jumpers all game and said “no more” to losing games at Times Union Center.
Sophomore guard Nico Clareth scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures and Siena shot a season-high 57.7 percent from the field and scored its most points of the season in a 94-71 rout of Manhattan at Times Union Center on Thursday night.
The Saints (13-15 overall, 10-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) snapped a three-game losing streak at home, including a 102-82 defeat to first-place Monmouth on Monday.
“Tonight I thought we came out with a lot of energy, and we could have gone either way on that,” Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said. “It was a tough loss (to Monmouth), but we’re grateful to be playing basketball in February because March is coming up close and we know we have to get better.”
Patsos picked freshman forward Thomas Huerter Jr., a Shenendehowa graduate, to speak to the team before the game because he was the cover photo for the game program.
SIENA 94, MANHATTAN 71
MANHATTAN (9-19, 4-13)
Player Min FG FT R A Pts
Waterman 30 4-10 9-12 9 0 17
Crawford 37 2-5 3-4 3 0 7
Ismail 8 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Turner 32 7-15 2-2 2 4 20
Capuano 32 5-6 3-4 2 1 16
Council 12 0-4 0-0 2 1 0
Ojo 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wilson 15 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
Walker 25 3-5 2-2 0 1 9
Ehrnvall 5 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 22-50 19-24 21 7 71
SIENA (13-15, 10-7)
Player Min FG FT R A Pts
Long 28 4-8 6-7 7 3 14
Bisping 34 5-6 6-8 11 3 17
Ogunyemi 30 7-9 3-5 3 1 17
Wright 37 5-11 6-6 4 6 18
Shivers 20 0-0 4-4 2 0 4
Brandwijk 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Huerter 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Richard 6 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Smithen 5 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Clareth 21 7-12 1-1 1 4 20
Merrill 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Fisher 7 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
Friday 3 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 30-52 26-31 34 18 94
Halftime—Siena, 41-29. 3-point goals—Manhattan 8-18 (Waterman 0-4, Crawford 0-1, Turner 4-5, Capuano 3-4, Council 0-1, Walker 1-1, Ehrnvall 0-2), Siena 8-14 (Bisping 1-1, Wright 2-3, Richard 0-1, Clareth 5-8, Fisher 0-1). Fouled out—Manhattan (Waterman, Wilson), Siena (Long). Blocked shots—Manhattan 2 (Waterman, Crawford), Siena 4 (Bisping 2, Wright, Clareth). Turnovers—Manhattan 16 (Waterman 6, Crawford 2, Ismail, Turner 2, Wilson 3, Walker 2), Siena 16 (Long, Ogunyemi 2, Wright 2, Shivers 4, Huerter, Richard 3, Clareth 3). Steals—Manhattan 5 (Waterman 2, Capuano, Council, Wilson), Siena 7 (Long, Bisping, Ogunyemi, Wright 3, Fisher). A—5,577.
Huerter served as a ballboy on Siena teams that won 38 straight home games under then-head coach Fran McCaffery from 2007-2010.
“(Patsos) put me on the spot,” Huerter said. “He said, ‘Say something to the team.’ So I was talking about how we’d had a rough home stretch over the past couple of games and this would be a big one to get in front of our home crowd. It would be a big win to get some momentum going into our last few regular-season games and into the MAAC (Tournament at Times Union Center).”
But perhaps the biggest cheer of the night wasn’t a response to anything a Siena player did. The crowd of 5,577 erupted when Tobin, 31, banked in a one-handed shot from halfcourt during a media timeout with 3:21 left in the first half.
The contest had actually just been a ruse to get Tobin on the court so that her boyfriend, Steve Duckett of Queensbury, who was dressed in a mascot costume, could surprise her with a proposal. She accepted. So Tobin got an engagement ring – and a $500 gift card for making the shot.
“I honestly was like, ‘What’s going on?'” said Patsos, who was talking to an official. “That was impressive. I mean, maybe we should do that before the game. That was like the loudest cheer I think I’ve ever heard here.”
Siena senior forward Brett Bisping got engaged before the season and said his proposal wasn’t nearly as dramatic.
“I heard the crowd go nuts and I wasn’t in the game when it happened,” he said. “That was crazy. I wish I would have seen her make the shot. That’s incredible. I love those kinds of things.”
When play resumed, Bisping went back to playing like his old self after enduring a late-season slump. He made the first shot of the game and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the season and 27th of his career. He didn’t reach 10 points or 10 rebounds in any of his previous four games.
“I did come out thinking, just be confident, don’t think too much about the shots you’ve been missing,” Bisping said. “I even thought I could have got a few more (rebounds) tonight, but we’re rebounding as a team now.”
The Saints held a 34-21 rebounding advantage and outscored the Jaspers 36-26 in the paint and 16-9 on second-chance points.
They also shot 8-for-14 from 3-point range, including Clareth’s 5-for-8.
“One thing we always preach that Coach says is, don’t dwell on the past and there’s going to be a bright future,” Clareth said. “You’ve still got to keep moving forward and I think that’s the attitude we went forward with.”
Zavier Turner scored 20 points to pace Manhattan (9-19, 4-13), which lost for the 13th time in its past 14 visits to Times Union Center.
Siena’s Marquis Wright had 18 points and six assists, Javion Ogunyemi scored 17 points and Lavon Long had 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Saints play host to Niagara on Saturday.
msingelais@timesunion.com • 518-454-5509 • @MarkSingelais
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