Former Saint Ubiles Wins Pan-Am Gold

A former MAAC player now owns a gold medal as a member of the Puerto Rico team that captured the men's basketball championship of the just-completed Pan American Games.

Former Siena College standout 6-6 swingman Edwin Ubiles was a key member of the Puerto Rico team that captured its title with a 74-72 victory over Mexico Sunday.

Ubiles scored six points, had seven redounds, two steals, two assists, blocked a shot and had only one turnover in 34 minutes.

Ubiles played at Siena from 2006-07 through 2009-10, helped the Saints advance to the NCAA tournament in his last three seasons and is the program's third all-time leading scorer with 1,939 career points.

Ubiles was Puerto Rico's fourth-leading scorer in the Pan-Am games, averaging 9.8 points (22 of 41 shooting), and its second-leading rebounder (5.2) while playing an average of 26.4 minutes per game.

Two of his Puerto Rico teammates are current NBA players. J.J. Barea, a graduate of Northeastern,, was a key reserve for last season's Dallas Mavericks' team that won the 2010-11 NBA title. Also, Renaldo Balkman (28 points, 12 rebounds in the Pan-Am championship game) is on the New York Knicks' roster.

Ubiles had hoped to be drafted, either by the NBA or the USDBL, after his Siena career. Instead, he suffered a stress fracture in his right shin in June, 2010, and asked that his name be withdrawn from the USDBL's draft list.

Ubiles was slow to recover from the injury, but resumed workouts earlier this year culminating with his selection to the Puerto Rico team for the Pan Am Games.

Although he was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Poughkeepsie, he was eligible for the Puerto Rico team because his paternal grandparents are Puerto Rican.

"I feel it's a great opportunity," Ubiles said, prior to the Games. "I've been out for pretty much a year now. I think it'll be a good opportunity for me to showcase my talent and get back on my feet. I think there'll be a lot of people watching."

Ubiles has indicated he would be open to playing in Europe this year, but hopes to get an invitation to play in an NBA preseason camp next season.