The Saints come marching in

The consensus preseason favorite, Siena brings its undefeated MAAC record to the McCann Center on Jan. 15 for a 7:30 p.m. tilt.
The Siena Saints boast a 6-0 conference record and a 12-5 overall record. Four of Siena's losses have come at the hands of national powers. Tennessee, Oklahoma State, No. 1 Pittsburgh, and Kansas have all taken down Siena. The only suspect loss came against Wichita State on Nov. 28 at the Old Spice Classic.
Since conference play began, Siena has been virtually unstoppable though. The team has won two straight games since falling to Kansas, including a 91-81 win over Rider and a 68-64 win over Manhattan. After upsetting Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA tournament, most thought that Siena would roll through conference play this season. Although so far that has been the case, the Saints have been tested. Rider held several leads in the second half before Siena ultimately pulled away at home. Siena also squeezed by Manhattan and Fairfield. The Marist-Siena match-up marks the second meeting for the two teams this season. Despite holding a lead midway through the second half, Marist yielded a 22-4 run over the final 11:32 of regulation in its 77-60 loss. Alex Franklin scored a season-high 22 points for Siena while Ryan Schneider led Marist with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Since that game, Marist has recorded impressive wins over MAAC power Niagara and Bucknell. The Red Foxes also toppled the Delaware Blue Hens minus star point guard David Devezin. Marist enters the game with a fully healthy squad, something that has been rare for Chuck Martin's squad. Devezin missed five games with a heel injury sustained at Memphis on Dec. 2 while R.J. Hall missed the Saint Peter's game with a sore achilles. Marist's full squad disposed of the Niagara Purple Eagles, a game in which Devezin notched a career-high 23 points.
Marist will now face another team that features a balanced scoring attack. Poughkeepsie product Edwin Ubiles leads the Saints in scoring with 14.8 ppg. Alex Franklin will be the toughest guard, however. Franklin has historically haunted the Red Foxes and enters the game with 12.8 ppg and a team-high 6.8 rpg. Franklin will provide a tough cover for Marist star Ryan Schneider. Schneider is likely to create match-up problems for Siena as well. Schneider ranks fourth in the MAAC with 16.3 ppg and second in the conference with 8.8 rpg. Schneider also goes into the Siena game averaging 37.3 munutes per game, good for second in the conference.
Marist is undoubtedly an underdog in this game, but the Red Foxes have always played the Saints tough in McCann. Although the crowd should be slightly smaller than the raucous sellout Marist is used to due to winter break, the Red Foxes have excelled at home. The 7-11 Red Foxes are 5-2 on their home floor and 3-0 against MAAC competition.
The projected starting lineups for tomorrow's showdown are as follows:

Marist:
G David Devezin
G Dejuan Goodwin
G Javon Parris
F Ryan Schneider
F Alex Vouyoukas

Siena:
G Ronald Moore
G Kenny Hasbrouck
G/F Edwin Ubiles
F Alex Franklin
F Ryan Rossiter