After watching a couple of games on Saturday, I awoke Sunday morning to freezing rain that left the streets and sidewalks of downtown Albany covered in ice. I had a 2 p.m. game to attend, but needed some sustenance first, so skated over to The Excelsior, a pub that fellow sports traveler Bob Deal and I had visited the night before. The weather left most people at home and I enjoyed a quiet breakfast before returning to the MVP Arena to see the Siena men's team host Fairfield.
The Saints men's basketball team moved from campus to downtown Albany back in 1990, when the Knickerbocker Arena opened. Having already discussed the venue after my visit the night before, I won't add much other than a few more pictures. That is the atrium below.
This is one of the more unusual combinations of school and venue in NCAA hoops. With a maximum capacity of 17,500 (15,229 for basketball), the arena has more than five times as many seats as the college does students (enrollment is around 3,300). Of course, the entire upper deck is closed off here, but I don't know of another school that has such a discrepancy between its student body and its basketball court. Visiting Fairfield is in a similar situation, playing at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport (10,000 capacity) despite an enrollment of just 4,354, though they should be moving to a new on-campus arena next season.
You can see how small the court is when compared to the hockey rink surrounding it. Sitting at this end would leave you far away from the action, but $13 tickets are sold for these sections. Given the icy conditions, few fans bothered to show and I would guess about half of the announced 4,918 were on hand.
At the other end was a special seating section that was surprisingly busy, certainly the most crowded area on the afternoon.
I sat close to midcourt and was undisturbed for the afternoon, a welcome change from busier events where people seem to get up during the action for as yet to be determined reasons.
There are suites here, and just in front of the suites are some very comfortable seats. You could probably sit in one and not be bothered, though I did not see a single person doing so.
Siena has quite a bit of basketball history. They have had six tournament appearances and include three upset wins as a #14 seed (over Stanford in 1989), #13 (over Vanderbilt in 2007) and #9 (over Ohio State in 2009). They also won the CBI in 2014 and finished third in the 1994 NIT, when Doremus Bennerman scored 174 points over five games to earn the tournament MVP. That record still stands for your trivia buffs.
Interestingly, Bennerman's jersey is not retired, though as you can see below, there is only one such honouree about every 20 years.
When I first visited Times Union Center back in 2013, I remember seeing these banners and wondering what Siena was. Now that I am chasing college hoops venues, I am well aware, and was very happy to get both their men's and women's gyms off my list.
The Game
The Saints came in 4-6 (1-1 in MAAC play) while the Stags were 8-6 (2-1). The teams were evenly matched in the first half, with the biggest lead at six points for Fairfield, though Siena came back to trail by 1 at the break, 26-25.
The second half was equally low scoring as the Stags took a 38-33 lead on a free throw from Supreme Cook (#5 above contesting the jump ball with Jackson Stormo) with just over 11 minutes to go. Again the Saints came back, taking a 46-45 lead before another Cook freebie knotted things. I should note that the referees were calling everything, which led to plenty of shots from the charity stripe. Many of those were missed, and with 4:38 to go, a Cook layup left Fairfield down 52-49. Nick Hopkins (#0 above) drained a jumper to regain the 5-point lead and then Jesus Cruz (#24 below) was fouled at the under-4 timeout.
Fairfield was in the bonus and Cruz missed the first of the 1-and-1 but Fairfield grabbed the board, only for Cruz to be blocked by Stormo. Aidan Carpenter (whose parents must have been fans of Sex and the City) then sank a trey for Siena to make it 57-49. The Stags got back within 4, but a Jordan Kellier (#14 above) three made it 62-55 with 1:37 to go and Fairfield had to foul. Siena made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to win 69-62 in a game that will not be remembered by many.
The teams combined to shoot 8-33 (24%) from beyond the arc, not much better than the women had done the day before, while Fairfield's 13-20 (65%) mark from the line was the main reason they lost. Hopkins was the star, going 6-11, including 3-6 from downtown, plus he made all four of his free throws to lead everybody with 19 points. To be fair, both teams were missing players due to COVID protocols, and each team only used three players off the bench, so a little fatigue might be expected.
Notes
This was the 10th of 12 MAAC venues on my list. The only two remaining are Canisius and Niagara, and ironically, my original plan for this weekend was to go to Buffalo, where those two schools plus Buffalo all had home games. In the end, two of the matches were rescheduled so I am glad that I decided on Albany instead.
The first two rounds of the 2020 NCAA tournament were to be held here, and Siena was the #1 seed for the MAAC that year, so who knows what might have happened. MVP Arena will now host next year.
Next Up
I am not scheduling any trips for the rest of the month, as too many games are being postponed or cancelled. That doesn't mean I won't be traveling, but it will be more spontaneous. So check back regularly to see if I get somewhere during the last few weeks of the college basketball season.
Best,
Sean
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