Nico Clareth and Siena Upset Monmouth, Possibly Elimates Hawks Chance at Tournament Berth
The TU was packed on Sunday afternoon when the Saints took the #1 Seed Monmouth. Coming in, Siena isn’t known to play good in the MAAC Semis, 8-10 all time. But the Saints had something to prove against Monmouth, with possibly a chance to disrupt the Hawks chance of getting into the tournament.
Siena got off a hot start getting the lead to four. Monmouth fired right back at Siena hitting 5 of 7 heading into the media timeout. Brett Bisping swatted away a huge block, getting the crowd going. Siena would then go on a drought missing 1 of 5 to start after the media timeout. That would lead to four straight turnovers in the next five minutes for the Saints, still down by four. At the same time, Monmouth wasn’t consistent either, going on a scoring drought for 3 minutes going 1 of 6 during that stretch. Monmouth wouldn’t keep that streak going, extending their lead to 6 and limiting Siena to no field goals in over 3 minutes. To close out the first half, Monmouth got hot, going on a 9-0 run, extending the lead to 14.
Monmouth controlled the point, scoring 24 inside in the first half. With a total of 55.2% from the field, 2-5 from 3PT.
Monmouth kept the same intensity coming into the second half, holding Siena to no field goals in 2 minutes. Nico Clareth caught a little heat for the Saints hitting 4 straight 3’s for himself. Bisping would keep the 3-point streak going, cutting the Monmouth lead to 10. That led Siena to five straight field goals cutting the lead to 9. BANG ANOTHER 33333333 Nico hits 5 straight to cut the Monmouth lead to 6. The crowd is going, Monmouth shooting silly shoots, it looked like Siena was back in the game. 8-0 run for the Saints and it was a four-point game with 11:49 left to go. AND 1 for ONGUNYEMI cuts the lead to one point, forcing a timeout on the floor. Foul trouble caught up for the Saints, putting Lavon Long to the bench with 10:57 left. With 9:50 left, James drove, Nico set for the charge, blocking foul called. James over Clareth, taunting, T’D up. Hitting the free throws to make it a four-point game. The turning point in the second half was when Siena took the lead on the Shivers bucket. Nico wouldn’t stop from there hitting two more threes. Robinson on the Monmouth side would not back down, following Nico’s 3. Huge tip in by Brett Bisping with 1:59 left to give Siena a 3-point lead. A charge on Tilghman, got the crowd going into the media timeout, Saints still holding a 3-point lead. Nico Clareth put in a huge one footed floater with 52.7 left to get everyone out of their seats, including myself. Siena would force Monmouth to go one of five in the last two minutes, forcing the Hawks to foul. Ogunyemi would hit two, Robinson hits the lay-up. Still a two-point game. Nico goes to the line with 16.7 hits two of two, again Robinson storms down the court and puts it in for two. Siena sealed the deal and upset Monmouth.
“I don’t care about BPI and RPI, Monmouth deserves to get into the tournament. Joe Lunaridi you better be listening up.” Jimmy Patsos added after the game. King Rice added after the loss “This is just a game, we will still be Monmouth tomorrow, I will still be the head coach”. “We wanted to be Siena, and I missed shots, that’s all” Justin Robinson added after the game. Nico had some comments added after the game and he said “they are a fierce looking team when they come down the court , they wanted just as much as we did, it feels good”.
Will this eliminate Monmouth completely out of contention for a tournament bid? That we will have to wait until next Sunday to find out. It has been an emotional ride thus far for Siena, hopefully they can capture the championship tomorrow against the winner of Iona/St. Peters.
For continued coverage of the MAAC Tournament, stay with Upstate Sports Zone… @upstate_sports
By Jake Martino
