Atlantic City, N.J. (March 8, 2026)--Mount St. Mary's staged a furious second-half rally, but came up just short in a 63-58 loss to Siena in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday night at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.  The Mount cut a 19-point second half deficit to two in the final minute.  Luke McEldon paced the Mount with 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.  The Mount finishes the season with a 15-17 record.

Siena scored the first five points of the second half to build its biggest lead at 40-21.  The Saint (21-11) held a 46-28 lead with 16 minutes on the clock when the Mountaineers started whittling into the deficit.  A quick 7-0 run capped by an Abdou Khadre Kebe slam made the score 46-35 with 12:31 on the clock.  Trailing 50-35, the Mount scored the next six points to get the deficit under double figures.  Siena led 52-41 after a pair of Gavin Doty free throws with 5:43 left before Xavier Lipscomb drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 52-44.  After a Siena bucket, McEldon score consecutive baskets in the paint, and Justin Amadi hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 54-50 with 3:19 on the clock.

Siena's Brendan Coyle then connected on a three-pointer to push the lead back to seven, but McEldon answered with a lay-up, and Kebe drained a three-pointer with 1:45 left to make it 57-55.  After a defensive stop, Keyes had a chance to tie the score, but shot off a drive with 50 seconds left was off the mark.  Siena's Justic Shoats countered with a lay-up with 21 seconds left to mak eit 59-55, but Keyes hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left to cut the deficit to one at 59-58.  Dota was fouled on the inbounds, and he hit both to make it 61-58.  The Mount then turned the ball over, and Doty sealed the win with two free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining.

McEldon led the Mount with 18 points and nine rebounds, hitting 8-of-13 from the field.  Keyes added 14 points, hitting 4-of-9 from three-point range, while Trey Deveaux added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Coyle and Doty each had 17 points in the win for the Saints while Shoats added 13 points and six assists.

The Mount shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) in the loss while hitting 6-of-20 (.300) from three-point range.  Siena shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) and was 7-of-25 (.280) from three-point range.  The Mount held a 42-to-36 edge on the boards.

The first half was tight for the first 15 minutes with the Saint holding a 21-18 advantage.  Siena, however, end the half on a 14-to-3 spurt to build a 35-to-21 lead at the break.  

The Saints jumped to a 7-to-2 lead in the early going, but the Mount answered with the next seven points to take the lead.  Anthony Arrington, Jr., scored on a hook shot, Keyes drained a three-pointer, and McEldon had a putback dunk to put the Mount on top, 9-7.  McEldon hit 1-of-2 at the to tie the score at 14-14, and he had another bucket to pull the Mount within three at 21-18 before the late Siena run.

Mount St. Mary's was held to 25.0 percent shooting (8-of-32) in the opening half, hitting just 2-of-12 (.167) from beyond the arc.  Siena shot 12-of-31 (.387) in the first half, but was 5-of-15 (.333) from three-point range and 6-of-6 at the line.