Emmitsburg, Md. (February 10, 2023)--In another hard-fought Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matchup, Mount St. Mary's was outlasted by visiting Siena, 72-65, on Friday night at Knott Arena.  Dakota Leffew led the Mountaineers with a team-high 20 points while Jalen Benjamin added 16 points and seven rebounds. The Mount drops to 8-17 overall and 4-10 in the MAAC with the loss.

The game also marked the return of graduate forward Malik Jefferson, who had missed the Mount's previous nine games due to a shoulder injury suffered against Canisius on January 2.  Jefferson scored eight points while adding four rebounds, two steals and two assists in 24 minutes off the bench.

Mount St. Mary's started the game quickly, jumping out to a 13-4 lead in the opening six minutes.  Xavier Lipscomb started the scoring with a bucket, Jedy Cordilia added a pair of free throws, and Leffew drained a three-pointer as the Mount scored the first seven points of the contest.  Holding a 9-4 advantage, Jefferson scored in the paint and George Tinsley added a basket to give the Mount a nine-point lead, its biggest of the game.

Siena answered with the next eight points to cut the deficit to one at 13-12.  Jefferson knocked down a pair of free throws with 10:16 left in the opening half to give the Mount an 18-14 advantage.  The Saints (16-9, 10-4 MAAC) responded with a 12-0 run to grab a 26-18 lead.  Andrew Platek hit a three-pointer to snap an 18-18 tie, and Michael Eley followed with a triple and Javian McCollum a pair of free throws that capped the run.

The Mount answered with a 12-to-2 run of its own to regain the lead at 30-28.  Benjamin was the catalyst to the surge, scoring the first eight points of the run.  Dola Adebayo's lay-up tied the scored at 28-28, and Liscomb scored on the break for a two-point Mount lead with two minutes left in the half.  The Mount held a 33-30 after a Leffew free throw, but Siena's Eley drained a triple to tie the score at 33-33 at the break.

Siena's McCollum opened the second half with a three and the Saint built a 40-35 lead after a Michael Baer drive.  The Mount fought back, cutting the deficit to one on a Benjamin basket, and tying the score at 42-42 on a Leffew three-point basket.  Siena's McCollum answered with a three on the next possession, and the game remained tight for the next few minutes with the Mount pulling within one at 48-47 with 12:22 left on a Benjamin drive.

The Saints scored the next eight points to take their biggest lead of the game, 56-47, with 7:13 left.  Leffew stopped the run with a three, and after Siena went 1-for-2 at the line, Lipscomb hit a pair of free throws to slice the Mount's deficit to five.  Trailing 64-58 with a minute left, Adebayo scored in the paint to make it a four-point game.  After Siena's Jackson Stormo connected on a pair of free throws, Adebayo hit a three from the top of the key to make it 66-63 with 38 seconds on the clock.  On the inbounds play, the Saints found Eley open for a breakaway dunk, but the Mount's Jaylin Gibson connected on a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left to make it 68-65.  Siena's McCollum then hit two free throws, and after a Mount turnover, hit two more to seal the win for the Saints.

Leffew led the Mount with 20 points, his third 20-point outing of the season.  He was 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the game.  Benjamin finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Mount.  Jefferson added eight points and Adebayo seven off the bench.  Eley led all scorers in the game 23 points while McCollum, buoyed by a 10-for-10 effort at the charity stripe, added 22 in the win. 

The Mount finished the game shooting 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the field and 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from three-point range.  Siena shot 40.4 percent overall and 7-of-21 (.333) from three..  The Saints held a 38-27 advantage on the boards and were 23-of-26 (.885) at the foul line.

Mount St. Mary's has a quick turnaround, heading on the road to face Fairfield on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.