ALBANY – “Why? Why?” Siena men’s basketball coach Carmen Maciariello yelled loudly enough to be heard among the crowd of 6,012 on Sunday afternoon at MVP Arena.
There were just 0.6 seconds left and graduate guard Andrew Platek was whistled for a foul going for a rebound, concluding a victory that left a fairly sour taste for the Saints.
The Saints prevailed 73-65 over Marist, but Maciariello and his players were still dissatisfied after struggling to put away the Red Foxes in the second half.
“Yeah, you’re right, a win is a win, but we’ve just got to, like Coach said, keep our foot on their neck,” said Siena freshman guard Javian McCollum, who had a team-high 23 points in his second game returning from a back injury. “We can’t let them come back because we built that lead for a reason and we can’t settle down.”
Siena still completed the weekend sweep of Mount St. Mary’s and Marist and improved to 17-9 overall, 11-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, just a half-game behind co-leaders Iona and Rider.Â
Regardless, the Saints weren’t happy about letting the Red Foxes (8-16, 4-11) creep within 6 points with possession with four minutes left. Siena had built its lead to 17 (47-30) with 12:52 left.
“It’s always better to teach lessons after wins than losses, but that wasn’t a very good performance and I take, we take full responsibility,” Maciariello said. “Just a lot of mental errors, but like I said, this will be a great chance for us to get these guys rejuvenated and then we’ve got a lot of teaching to do and then we’ve got a lot of playing to do to make sure we’re understanding what has to be done and the standard of our performance.”
Maciariello said his team turned down open shots early in the game that turned into turnovers. He also wasn’t happy with his team’s late-game execution.Â
The Saints are…
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