The Siena Saints and the Canisius Golden Griffins meet Sunday in college basketball action from Koessler Athletic Center. Siena is 12-5 overall this year. The Saints beat Niagara in their last game. As for Canisius, they’re 4-12 so far following a loss to Marist. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Siena was 7-5 over their first 12 games this year. The Saints lost to Army, Harvard, Ole Miss, Georgetown and Delaware in that time. The Saints have beaten Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Saint Peter’s, Rider and Niagara in the five games since then.
In the Niagara matchup on Friday, the Saints were down 37-30 by halftime. Siena stormed back on a 40-27 second-half run and won it 70-64. Javian McCollum led the way on 27 points with eight assists.
Over on the Canisius side, they were just 2-10 after 12 games. The only wins came versus Fredonia and St. Bonaventure. The Griffins are 2-2 in their last four with wins over Manhattan and Saint Peter’s.
Back on Friday versus Marist, the Griffins were down by one point 38-37 at the break. Canisius was outscored 38-21 from there and lost it 76-58. Tops in scoring on the team was Tahj Staveskie with 18 points and two boards.
PICK: I’m probably staying with Siena here. The Saints put up a nice comeback win over a decent Niagara team in their last outing, and they’ve now won seven straight games. Siena has scored 68 or more points in six of those matchups, so they’ll probably log a solid total in this one as well. As for Canisius, this year has been a struggle but the good news is that the team has shown some improvement over the last four games or so. I don’t think the Griffins will be able to keep pace with Siena if the Saints are playing well, though.