On the back of Evan Hymes, the Saints earned a clutch victory over Manhattan College tonight, 70-64. The victory moves the Saints a half game ahead of Niagara, who was idle tonight, in the race for the six seed in the MAAC tournament.
As advertised, Manhattan pressed. However, unlike last month when the Saints coughed the ball up 22 times against the Jaspers, tonight they handled it masterfully. The Saints were able to break the press and in several instances turn it to an offensive advantage for easy buckets.
While the win was certainly a team effort, alot of credit for tonight needs to go to Evan Hymes. The Saints freshman put on a clinic, hitting clutch shots and finding open teammates to amply drive the Saints offense. Hymes scored a game high 21 points on 8-13 shooting, 5-8 from three, to go along with his career high 7 assists and 4 steals. Hymes biggest shot was with six minutes to go and the shot clock expiring. The freshman drained a Jimmer Fredette style deep three to push the Saints lead to eight.
“He played like the best point guard in the league tonight,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said of Hymes. “Forget freshman.”
At this point, I think many Siena fans have long forgotten that Hymes is a freshman that entered the season as a backup option to Rakeem Brookins. He continues to improve, hitting clutch shots, while showing a competitive intensity that endears him to the fans.
Kyle Downey contributed a solid effort in the win. The senior scored 18 points on 7-10 shooting.
“Downey played like a senior tonight,” Buoanguro said.
OD Anosike had a relatively quiet night, but still managed to score 14 points, helped in large part by his 8-9 night from the free throw line, and grab 8 rebounds. The Saints junior continues to lead the nation in rebounding, averaging 12.77 rebounds per game. Masiello said of Anosike “I thought we didn’t give him anything easy. He still finished with 14 and 8 which for him might not be good but they’re good numbers. He’s just Superman out there most nights so I think that tells you how good he is that he gets 14 and 8 and that gives you a slow night for him”.
Also in double figures for the Saints was Rob Poole. The freshman had 10 points to go with his 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Saints next head to Hofstra for their bracketbuster matchup this Saturday. The real season then resumes on the 23rd when the Saints resume MAAC play by traveling to Marist before ending their season at home against Canisius on the 26th.
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Tagged with: Evan Hymes, Manhattan, postgame