Clareth comes up big, Saints move on to MAAC Championship
Albany, NY — It’s not often that an athlete can go through a three-game suspension, plus a leave of absence, and end up back with the same team in the playoffs.
Then again ankle injuries don’t usually heal themselves at half time of big games. But all of the above came true Sunday at Times Union Center, when Siena senior guard Nico Clareth gave his team a boost in more ways than one.
After injuring his ankle during practice on Wednesday, the Baltimore, Maryland native was absent from Saturday’s MAAC quarterfinal game against Fairfield. Moreover, Siena coach Jimmy Patsos wasn’t sure if Clareth would be available for the following day – shooting down questions about it.
16 hours later Clareth was seen warming up ahead of the showdown with Monmouth, but his sweatpants remained on. Then in the first half, Clareth came in and well, didn’t look himself. He only played three minutes.
This is where unexpectedly, the story shifts. He (Clareth) was not happy seeing his team down six at the half, but he really didn’t like what he heard coming out of the Monmouth locker room, senior Lavon Long said. “They[Monmouth] were playing music and pretending like the game was over. but he didn’t have it.”
What followed was a motivational speech. The likes of which lit a fire under a Siena team that has struggled to find strength in critical moments all year.
“Not only did he pump himself up, but he pumped each and every single one of us up,” Long went on to say.
Then, Clareth went off for a team-high 27 points, 21 of which came from three-point land.
“It’s just my competitive nature. I got angry at halftime just with the way we were playing. I’ll do anything to make sure this team wins.” Clareth said post game.
“I’ve seen a lot of basketball – college, pro – and it was unbelievable,” added Patsos. “He couldn’t walk two days ago.
Monmouth entered the showdown on a 17-game winning streak, but down the stretch, the Saints were unstoppable — playing perhaps their best basketball of the year.
The team will take on defending MAAC Champion Iona in the Title game Monday at Times Union Center. The game tips off at 9:00 p.m. and can be seen across the country on ESPN2.
It is unclear what kind of playing time Nico Clareth will get as he continues to deal with an ankle injury.
-Dylan Rossiter – @ByDylanRossiter – [email protected]–