Rossiter breaks a school record but Siena still can't pull out the win against Loyola

Times Union Center- Albany, NY- Siena Saints battled against Loyola last night. The offenses for both teams were on point, however Siena could not figure out a good defensive strategy against Loyola. They began with a 2-3 zone switched to a 3-2 and finally went man to man all in the first half! Nothing seemed to be effective against Loyola's offense. By the end of the half Siena should have had a 3 point lead on Loyola, however bad ball handling by Clarence Jackson created an easy turnover and score and a halftime score 40-39 Loyola lead. For Siena, Rahkeem Brookins lead with 11 points. This game in particular was important for Ryan Rossiter, he was on the way to break the all time rebound record at Siena college, currently held by Lee Matthews. On a side note, the refs certainly seemed to be favoring sides. Loyola had to many players on the court and 3 were in pin stripes. It reminded me of the Steelers/Seahawks Super Bowl a few years back. Anyways, some great clean blocks were made on behalf of Siena and were called as fouls frequently throughout the night. Early in the second half Ryan Rossiter broke the Siena rebound record and received a standing ovation. Shortly after Siena set up a perfect shot for Rossiter, tossing the ball around like a hot potato and Rossiter went for the dunk...he missed that dunk, I felt so bad quite frankly! Cheering one second and astounded the next minute. That basically describes the theme for Siena fans the entire game. All and all Rossiter dominated the second half, but it can't always be a one man show. Nobody stepped up to help him out on offense or defense. Loyola caught up to Siena's 8 point lead with 7 minutes left and didn't look back. It went back and forth throughout the final minutes but Siena turned the ball over more times than I could keep track of in the last 5 minutes. Loyola won 76-69. Rossiter ended the game with 23 points and 20 rebounds!