ALBANY ? In a little less than 48 hours, the Siena men?s basketball team did what it took the first two months of the season to do ? win twice.
The Saints showed that a little confidence can go a long way, finishing off a weekend of winning on Sunday afternoon by dropping Saint Peter?s 66-53.
Siena (2-4, 4-13) has now won two games in a row for the first time since the end of last season.
?With a young team, to get two wins at home, it really does wonders for our confidence,? said O.D. Anosike, who finished with game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (seven).
The Saints won the game at the foul line, where it shot 27-for-36 (75 percent), much higher than its season average of 60.6 percent.
?We?ve worked hard on free throw shooting the last two weeks,? said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro. ?It?s gotten better. When you?re taking more and guys are making them, they get more confident.?
The Saints won despite playing without sophomore Rob Poole (flu) and again after watching another player go down, when freshman Ryan Oliver sprained his left knee just one minute in.
The victory also snapped a four-game Peacocks (1-5, 6-10) advantage in the series and gave Buonaguro his first win as head coach against Saint Peter?s.
?It?s a good win against a team that?s tough to play,? he said.
Anosike didn?t start the game great, but he settled in, scoring seven of the team?s final eight points to hit halftime with a nine-point advantage. Continued...
?I was in the rhythm,? he said. ?I was getting the ball in my sweet spots.?
Anosike was battling against Peacocks senior Darius Conley, who has been a nemesis of his for the past four years. Anosike made effective post moves and was creating a lot fouls from the opposition.
?In the past, we?ve done a better job with our late double teams on him,? said Saint Peter?s coach John Dunne. ?Today, he was aggressive.?
The Peacocks played a scrappy game but they ran into foul trouble, committing 27 fouls as a team and seeing two players, Conley included, foul out.
?It worked for us to get us back in the game, worked against us with the fouls,? said Dunne, a former Siena assistant coach.
Anosike, who has struggled himself from the free-throw line, made eight of his first nine and then had all the confidence he needed.
?It?s not mechanics,? said Anosike, who admitted to spreading his feet just a tad more than normal. ?It?s not this and that. It?s just simply confidence.?
Anosike finished 12-for-17 from the line, making as many free throws as the entire Peacocks team attempted.
?We?re a team that obviously has some deficiencies on the offensive end so far, so when we get to the line, we have to cash in and that starts with me,? he said.
When he wasn?t being fouled, Anosike was finding his teammates for easy looks. Two times he found freshman Rich Audu, who hit back-breaking 3-pointers to open up what had become a slim lead. Continued...
?O.D. read the double teams well today,? said Buonaguro.
The Saints have turned things around by playing solid offense and terrific zone defense, holding two straight opponents in the 50s.
?We?ve been putting 40 minutes of basketball together,? said sophomore Rakeem Brookins, who chipped in 18 points and five steals.
In just three days, Siena doubled its win total and climbed out of the cellar in the conference standings.
?This was definitely a great weekend for us,? said Anosike.
Source: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2013/01/13/sports/doc50f36e252b784985868194.txt
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