ALBANY, N.Y. - Syracuse had to work for every inch of this one, but the Orange found just enough late to hold off Siena 81-76 in Gerry McNamara’s return to MVP Arena.
The game had all the hallmarks of a preseason grinder. Syracuse looked shaky early, steadied itself, then spent the second half trying to keep Siena from landing one more punch. In the end, the Orange did enough to survive a Saints push and leave with a five-point win.
Gavin Doty paced Syracuse with 20 points and 8 rebounds against his former team. Mark Morano made his first appearance for the Orange after sitting out the team’s first exhibition and put up 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from outside. Ryan Moesch was a steady spark off the bench with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Luke Wilson added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Aiden Tobiason, who had earlier left the UConn exhibition after grabbing his right hamstring, did not play. McNamara opened with Garwey Dual, Doty, Amarri Monroe, Sadiq White and Wilson.
Siena came out fast and physical, scoring on its first three possessions while Syracuse opened with two turnovers. McNamara burned a timeout just 84 seconds into the game.
Wilson got the Orange going with a putback, and Moesch followed by finding White for a transition lob and dunk. Even so, Siena still led 10-5 at the first media timeout.
The Saints kept finding space against Syracuse’s full-court man-to-man press, especially by attacking behind it for transition chances. Doty answered with back-to-back threes to pull Syracuse within 14-13 at the 14:21 mark, but Siena kept its edge for much of the half.
Morano and Moesch each drilled threes to tie it 19-19 at the under-12 timeout. Kiyan Anthony checked in from there, part of a bench sequence that also included Francis Folefac, Abdramane Siby and Morano. Moesch wound up handling a heavy load of minutes, though Dual returned around the 10-minute mark and started to settle in with a mid-range jumper and a lob to White on a secondary break.
Syracuse closed the half with Moesch back on the floor, and he hit another three before the break. Still, Siena took a 39-38 lead into halftime after Tim Ibukunoluwa secured an offensive rebound and scored right at the buzzer. The Saints held a 26-19 rebounding advantage and outscored Syracuse 30-14 in the paint before halftime.
The Orange came out sharper in the second half, especially on the perimeter. Dual jumped a pass near midcourt and finished in transition with a slam, even while favoring the right ankle he tweaked in the UConn exhibition.
Morano again made an instant impact off the bench, scoring on his first shot with a driving bank. Syracuse led 47-42 at the first media timeout.
From there, the Orange started to stretch things out. Dual hit another mid-range jumper, Monroe scored driving to the rim, and Syracuse opened a 51-42 lead that forced Nevada Smith to call timeout.
Morano and Monroe then traded threes with Siena’s Reid Ducharme and Egbiremolen as the Orange pushed the margin to 59-46. Siena responded, trimming the gap to 59-52 by the under-12 timeout.
Morano kept delivering. He drilled a third three off a ball screen, then added another in transition after Moesch found him. Syracuse had its biggest cushion of the night at 13 points with 10 minutes left.
Siena wasn’t done. The Saints cut it to five with a little more than six minutes remaining, but Wilson answered with a thunderous dunk off a Moesch assist. Siena later narrowed the margin to four, and Moesch stepped into a three with 3:54 left to push Syracuse back to a three-possession lead.
Morano then showed his touch inside, spinning baseline for a dunk after Syracuse fed him on the low block. Ducharme kept Siena alive with a corner three to make it 74-69 with 3:06 remaining. He struck again with two minutes left to trim the lead to three, and when Moesch’s three at the other end missed, Tim Ibukunoluwa converted a layup to make it 75-74 with 1:27 to go.
Wilson and Ducharme both missed on the next trips, then Doty drew a foul with 32 seconds left and calmly hit both free throws to make it 77-74. Ducharme had one more look from outside and missed, giving Syracuse the ball with 20 seconds left.
Morano was fouled and knocked down both free throws to provide some breathing room. Siena scored quickly, but Doty was fouled again and made both to push the margin back to five.
The Saints missed their next shot and chose not to foul as Syracuse ran out the clock.
Syracuse finished 26 of 65 from the field, 11 of 35 from three and 18 of 24 at the line. Siena shot 26 of 64 overall, 6 of 31 from deep and 18 of 25 on free throws.
The Saints won the rebounding battle 43-37 and controlled the paint 40-26, while Syracuse forced 18 Siena turnovers against 13 of its own.
Syracuse has one more exhibition before the real thing begins. The Orange play Niagara on Saturday in Buffalo, with tipoff set for 3 p.m. at KeyBank Center.
Siena honored the 2025-26 Saints team that won the MAAC Tournament title and made an NCAA Tournament appearance before the game. The program also recognized members of the Syracuse coaching staff and some of the Saints’ own former players during a pregame ceremony.
Tasman Goodrick, who started the first exhibition game, did not play against his former team. McNamara used a 10-man rotation in this game and shortened it in the second half, while Kiyan Anthony did not play after halftime.
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