Syracuse 81, Siena 76: Orange escape late versus Saints

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team overcome a sluggish first half and escaped late to win 81-76 against the Siena Saints in Gerry McNamara’s return to MVP Arena. After trailing for most of the first half, Syracuse led for most of the second and survived a late push from the Saints to win by five.

Gavin Doty, the former Siena player who followed McNamara to Syracuse, led the way for the Orange with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Mark Morano made his first appearance for Syracuse after missing the team’s first exhibition contest. He scored 18 points on 4-7 outside shooting.

Aiden Tobiason, after grabbing at his right hamstring and exiting early in the UConn exhibition, did not play during the Siena scrimmage. Gerry McNamara went with a starting five of Garwey Dual, Gavin Doty, Amarri Monroe, Sadiq White and Luke Wilson.

Siena came out with intensity from the opening tip, scoring on its first three possessions while the Orange started with two turnovers. McNamara called for timeout just 84 seconds in. Wilson calmed Syracuse with a putback bucket to get the Orange on the board. Moesch, who checked in first off the bench, found White on a lob in transition for a dunk that settled Syracuse in. Siena led 10-5 at the first media timeout.

Syracuse showed a full-court man-to-man press early but had limited success on the defensive end. Siena attacked the backside of the press for transition scores. Back-to-back threes from Doty narrowed Siena’s lead 14-13 at the 14:21 mark.

Siena held the lead for much of the first half but two consecutive threes from Mark Morano and Moesch had the game tied at 19 at the under-12 minute media timeout. Kiyan Anthony checked in from there. Bench rotation against Siena: Moesch, Francis Folefac, Morano, Abdramane Siby, Anthony, in that order.

Moesch took the lion’s share of the minutes but Dual checked back in at ten minute mark. Dual found a bit of rhythm by knocking down a mid-range jumpshot and found White on a lob for a dunk on a secondary fast break. Moesch would check back in to end the half — sans the last defensive play — and would knock down another triple.

Siena led 39-38 at the break after a Tim Ibukunoluwa rebound and putback right at the buzzer. The Saints held a 26-19 rebounding advantage and more than doubled Syracuse up in the paint 30-14.

Syracuse picked up the intensity on its perimeter defense to start the second half. Dual locked in for a steal near mid-court and converted in transition for a slam, also coming up favoring his right ankle that he tweaked during the UConn exhibition.

Morano came first off the bench for McNamara and once again scored on his first shot, a driving bank shot. Syracuse led 47-42 at the first media timeout. Dual converted on another mid-range jumpshot and Monroe scored on a drive as Syracuse opened up a 51-42 lead. Siena head coach Nevada Smith called for timeout.

Both teams traded three-point jabs as Morano and Monroe (not a law firm, just a nice alliteration) connected to put Syracuse up 59-46. Then Reid Ducharme and Egbiremolen hit from outside for Siena. Syracuse led 59-52 at the under 12-minute media timeout. Morano answered with double threes minutes letter, stepping into his third three of the game off a ball screen. Then Moesch found him in transition for another as Syracuse opened up a 13-point lead with 10 minutes to play.

Siena trimmed to five with just over six minutes remaining. Wilson respond with a racuous slam off a feed from Moesch. Siena would later cut Syracuse’s lead to four with four minutes to play. Moesch, not bashful, stepped into a three to make it a three possession game with 3:54 to go.

On the next offensive possession Syracuse win into Morano on the low block, who promply spun baseline and finished for a dunk. Ducharme answered for Siena with a corner three to cut Syracuse’s lead to five with 3:06 to play.

Down the stretch Ducharme connected again to cut the lead to three with two minutes left and Moesch responded an ill-advised three that went awry. Tim Ibukunoluwa finished with a layup on the other end to cut the lead to one with 1:27 to play. Wilson and Ducharme each missed on their team’s ensuing shots and Doty was fouled with 32 seconds to play. He calmly made two to put Syracuse up 77-74.

Ducharme once again tried from outside but missed, giving Syracuse the ball back with 20 seconds left and a three point lead. Morano was fouled and made a pair to give the Orange some breathing room. Siena scored quickly and Doty once again was fouled and made both free throws to give Syracuse a five point margin. Siena missed on its next possession and elected not to foul as Syracuse escaped with a too-close-for-comfort victory.

Next up

Syracuse has one last exhibition before the season begins in earnest. The Orange take on Niagara this upcoming Saturday in Buffalo. That game tips at 3 p.m. from KeyBank Center.

Notes

Siena honored the 2025-26 Saints team that won the MAAC Tournament title and made an NCAA Tournament appeareance. The program honored the current members of the Syracuse coaching staff and members from the Saints team during a pre-game ceremony.

After starting in the first exhibition game, Tasman Goodrick did not see time against his former team. McNamara elected to go 10-deep in this exhibition, shortening the rotation in the second half. Kiyan Anthony did not play in the second half.