GAME NOTES: Two defending league champions are set to square off tonight in Albany, as the Siena Saints play host to the Cornell Big Red in a non- conference bout at the Times Union Center. The Big Red have played their first three games without their All-Ivy backcourt of Louis Dale and Adam Gore, but have fared well in posting a 2-1 ledger and putting up an average of 78.7 ppg. Cornell is coming off an 82-72 victory over Loyola-Maryland on Tuesday, a win that enabled the Big Red to split the NIT Preseason Tip-Off Regional after an 86-75 loss against St. John's on Monday night. As for the Saints, they kicked off their 2008-09 campaign with an 82-52 blowout over Boise State last Monday, an outcome that eclipsed the Saints' 23-point Bracketbuster victory over the Broncos a year ago. Tonight's clash marks the third meeting between these two clubs on the hardwood, with the results of the previous meetings split. Siena will have revenge on its mind tonight though, as the Saints hope to atone for last year's 83-77 loss to the Big Red in Ithaca.

The Big Red held Loyola to a miserable 36.6 percent from the floor during Tuesday's 10-point win, as well as dominating the boards to the tune of a 50-36 advantage to help the club overcome 18 turnovers. Ryan Wittman posted a game-high 24 points to lead Cornell, while Jeff Foote added 19 points to go with eight rebounds and seven blocks. Geoff Reeves tallied 12 points for the Big Red, and Alex Tyler chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds. All things go through Wittman so far this season, as he leads Cornell with a whopping 24.7 ppg in the early going. Foote represents the second-leading scorer on the team, tallying a solid 15.0 ppg to go with 6.7 rpg and a team-best 16 blocks. Reeves has also been a nice source of production, averaging 13.7 ppg for the Big Red.

The Saints limited Boise State to just 34.6 percent shooting from the field during Monday night's game, including a paltry 2-of-17 effort from beyond the arc. Siena scored 28 points off 22 forced turnovers in the win, and beat Boise State on the boards by a 41-38 margin. Kenny Hasbrouck scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Saints in the contest, while Kyle Downey added 14 points off the bench. Siena returns only three seniors to its roster this year, but also have one of the top performers in all of the MAAC in Hasbrouck. The guard was second on the team and sixth in the conference in scoring a year ago with his 16.1 ppg, and has been named the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year heading into this, his final year. Hasbrouck isn't alone either, as the club also returns Edwin Ubiles and Alex Franklin. Ubiles led the program last season with 17 ppg, while Franklin averaged a tremendous 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as a freshman. Also worth mention is Ronald Moore, who has managed to dish out 338 assists in his first two years with the team.

This figures to be a great contest between two talented programs, and give an edge to Siena at home. Mix in the revenge factor as well, because it's a certainty the Saints have not forgotten Cornell's win last year.