ALBANY, N.Y. - Siena matched the conference's all-time record for regular-season wins (16), so you really didn't expect it to have too much of a struggle on its hands in its quarterfinal-round contest of the MAAC tournament.
It did for for about 15 minutes, though, as No. 9 seed Canisius stayed within 27-24.
And, then, the Saints took over.
Over the next 17 minutes, until there were just over eight minutes remainning, Siena showed exactly how it won the regular-season crown with a combination of stiffling, pressure defense and up-tempo offense.
It was enough to fuel a 41-19 stretch that built a 68-43 addvantage. The Griffs never got it closer than 23 points again.
Saints junior forward Edwin Ubiles led the winners with 18 points, 16 of them coming in the second half.
The MAAC's Player of the Year, senior guard Kenny Hasbrouck, had 16 points, all of them in the first half.
Sophomore forward Ryan Rossiter added 13 points and a game-high 10 assists, while freshman reserve Owen Wignot had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor.
Julius Coles and Elton Frazier each had 13 points for Canisius, which finishes 11-20 on the season.
Siena is now 24-7 overall.
The Saints advance to meet Fairfield in a semifinal-round contest Sunday at 6 p.m.
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