Siena men come up short in the battle of I-87
Sean Durugordon led all scorers with 16 points for Siena (3-15, 2-5) which was plagued by 20 turnovers. Three others added seven points apiece for the shorthanded Saints, who were without second-leading scorer Michael Eley due to a lower-body injury.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Reserve Matt McCool scored his only points of the game on a driving go-ahead layup with 4.2 seconds to go as Marist grinded past Siena Basketball 50-48 at McCann Arena.
Sean Durugordon led all scorers with 16 points for Siena (3-15, 2-5) which was plagued by 20 turnovers. Three others added seven points apiece for the shorthanded Saints, who were without second-leading scorer Michael Eley due to a lower-body injury.
Max Allen II scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Marist (9-7, 4-3) which overcame an early 16-point first-half deficit. Jadin Collins added 10 points for the Red Foxes who held a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Siena started red-hot, opening the game on a 20-4 run over the first 8:07. The Saints began 8-10 from the field and 4-5 from three. But Siena went scoreless for the next 7:14 as the Red Foxes slowly chipped away. Nonetheless, the Saints held a 25-19 advantage at the break after allowing their fewest points in any half all season, while limiting Marist to just 24% (7-29) shooting.
The second half was a rock fight throughout, although Siena slowly built its lead back to double digits at 40-30 with 13:27 remaining. But the Saints suffered another prolonged scoring drought, going 7:43 without a point thereafter, and the Red Foxes capitalized.
Marist, which shot an even 50% in the second half, responded with 11 unanswered points to reclaim the lead. The Red Foxes, who were just 2-16 from distance, forged ahead on a Collins three to go in front 41-40 with 6:48 left.
Michael Evbagharu drew Siena even one final time at 48-all on a driving layup with 22.1 seconds left, but McCool scored the decisive basket out of a timeout on the ensuing possession. The Saints had two final chances, but turned it over on the ensuing inbounds and then, after Marist missed the front end of a one-and-one, had a three-quarter court heave that was off the mark.
Siena, which was coming off its four highest-scoring halves of the season each of the past four second halves while averaging 46.5 points, was held to just 28 points on only 9-31 (29%) shooting including 2-13 from three over the final 31:53. The Red Foxes entered the day ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense (62.8), while also leading the MAAC in field goal percentage defense (.410).
The Saints return to the Capital Region to continue a stretch where they play five of seven at MVP Arena when they host defending MAAC Champion and archrival Iona in the annual Gold Rush game Friday at 7 p.m.