Seniors pave the way for Saints, punching ticket to Semifinals
ALBANY, NY — While Saturday’s MAAC Tournament game wasn’t senior night at Times Union Center, Siena seniors Marquis Wright, Javion Ogunyemi, Lavon Long, and Brett Bisping accounted for 65 of the teams 78 points in a 78-66 victory over Fairfield.
Photo: Connor Hall/518 Sports
Javion Ogunyemi hit shots all night long, leading the Siena attack with a game-high 24 points. Perhaps his biggest shot of the evening came just before the second half’s under-8 media timeout when Ogunyemi answered a Fairfield basket with a wide open three of his own.
“I was wide open. I was in the gym the last couple days, I was just working on it a little bit. I was hearing from the bench to shoot it and I knew the shot clock was winding down so I just shot it with confidence,” said Ogunyemi postgame.”
Photo: Connor Hall/518 Sports
As for his success, Ogunyemi gave all the credit to his teammates for setting him up.
“It was just my teammates. They realized I was struggling the last couple games and everybody just told me to be aggressive when I get the ball try to score and if not just kick it out. I just fed off my teammates energy tonight.”
It’s this leadership that could land Ogunyemi a spot on the Siena bench in the future.
“I will hire him [Javion] one day if I’m the coach at Siena if he is available [because] he thinks these things: it’s time to get in the gym, time to get me touch back, time to watch some video.”
It wasn’t only Ogunyemi who “got it done” for the Saints. Marquis Wright chipped in 12 points, Brett Bisping had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Lavon Long produced 17 points of his own.
“Especially in playoffs games, it’s crucial for the seniors to step up and be leaders, but more importantly produce,” head coach Jimmy Patsos stressed after the win.
“It’s important,” Patsos went on to say.” They have to play those games; they have to play those minutes, they have to score those points. With those minutes comes points. [If] there are 200 minutes in a game then they have to play 180 of them, that’s just how it goes.”
Exceptional play from their seniors is something Siena will need again on Sunday when they take on top-seeded Monmouth, with a spot in the MAAC championship on the line. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
-Connor Hall – @518SportsChall – [email protected]–
