Clareth leads Siena to Victory over Fairfield

Albany, NY — Siena sophomore guard Nico Clareth was practically unstoppable on Saturday night. The Baltimore, Maryland native had the hot hand against Fairfield scoring a career-high 33 points and leading the Saints to a 80-73 victory in their MAAC home opener.

The Saints raced out to a 19 point lead early in the game. Clareth was deadly from deep, hitting four threes in the first 10 minutes. They were able to maintain the large lead for the majority of the game. Fairfield did end up making a comeback, though. After taking advantage of some lousy offensive possessions for the Saints, the Stags managed to come all the way back to tie the game midway through the second half.

When it mattered most, Siena got back to their brand of basketball. And that revolved around Nico the entire game. Clareth would seemingly put the game away with a 4-point play; one of his seven threes on the night. Fairfield would stick around, but the Saints were too much to handle. The Stags suffer just their 2nd loss of the season.

Siena also got significant contributions from Javion Ogunyemi, who scored 17 points to go along with seven rebounds. This was a much-needed victory for Siena, improving to 3-5 on the season and 1-0 in MAAC play. But Fairfield is still a dangerous team. And they were given credit by Siena Coach Jimmy Patsos. Definitely, a team to look out for come March.

The Saints return on Monday in a road date with Rider at 7:00 p.m.

-Jim Bulger(@518SportsBULGER)