Box Score Albany, N.Y. (January 20, 2023)—Mount St. Mary's led midway through the second half, but Siena was able to pull away down the stretch in a 72-57 win on Friday night at MVP Arena. Sophomore
Jedy Cordilia paced the Mountaineers with a career high 16 points.
Cordilia hit 8-of-13 from the field while adding seven rebounds to his career-high 16 points for the Mount (6-13, 2-6 MAAC).
Jalen Benjamin finished with 14 points and
Dakota Leffew 11 in the game. v Michael Eley led Siena with 20 points off the bench while McCollum added 17 in the win. Michael Baer pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Saints (13-6, 7-1 MAAC).
The Mount led by one at the half before the Saints took a 47-43 lead five minutes into the second stanza. The Mountaineers responded with an 8-to-2 run to regain the advantage, 51-49. Benjamin hit 3-of-4 at the line in the stretch, Leffew hit a three-pointer and Cordilia scored in the paint to put the Mount on top. After a Javion McCollum three for Siena put the Saints up by one,
Deandre Thomas gave the Mount its final lead of the game, 53-52, on a drive at the midpoint of the second half.
Siena scored the next 10 points with the run capped by a pair of Andrew Platek three-pointers to take a 62-53 lead. A Cordilia bucket halted the run, but the Saints answered with a McColllum traditional three-point play for a double-digit advantage. Siena led the rest of the way.
The opening half featured plenty of offense as the Mountaineers led 38-37 at the break. The Mount shot 50.0 percent (16-of-32) overall and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point range in the half while Siena shot 44.4 percent (12-of-27) overall and 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from three. The Saints were 9-of-10 (.900) at the line in the half.
The first half was close knit with the biggest lead by either team being six points. Trailing 28-to-24, the Mount went on a 10-0 run to take a 34-28 advantage. Benjamin and Leffew started the run with consecutive three-pointers for a 30-28 lead. Benjamin and Tinsley then added buckets to complete the scoring spurt. Siena answered with the next six points to tie the game, but the Mount was able to take the one-point advantage to the locker room.
The Mount heads home to host Marist on Sunday, January 22, at Knott Arena. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
