JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team came out on top of a tight, 70-65, battle vs. Siena at Run Baby Run Arena on Saturday. In doing so, the Peacocks punched their ticket to the MAAC Tournament in Atlantic City.
"Every night, it's these types of games," head coach
Bashir Mason said after the close win. "I thought I saw it all in the conference, and we hadn't played them yet, but they are a well-oiled machine, so I'm happy that we came out on the winning side of this."
The Saints (17-8, 10-4) didn't make it easy for the Peacocks (14-8, 11-3 MAAC) at home, where they've been so good all season, but Saint Peter's was able to hold on to its lead down the stretch.
"I thought we had to dig deep and fight. There weren't a lot of clean, easy baskets to come by. We had to grind out a lot of stops against some really, really aggressive guys, and we stood up to the challenge, and I'm happy that we're victorious."
Bryce Eaton was a key playmaker from start to finish today, finishing with 22 points on 57.1 percent (8-for14) shooting from the field and 50.0 percent (2-for-4) from 3.
Elijah Perkins and
Brent Bland also had solid showings, combining for 19 points. Perkins had eight points and added five rebounds and three steals. Bland ended with 11 points, six boards and just one turnover.
Lucas Scroggins continued getting the crowd on their feet with his high-flying lob dunks. He neared another double-double performance with nine points and eight rebounds.
NOTES
Saint Peter's is now 55-48 all-time against the Saints and 36-18 against them at home…the Peacocks have won nine straight games at home…the last time the Peacocks started 11-1 at home was during the 1988-89 season…SPU outrebounded Siena 37-to-24.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF: The Peacocks led 14-11 at the first media timeout, with Eaton scoring half of the team's points. Over the next few minutes, scoring for both teams stalled out as they found themselves in an 18-18 tie. A huge lob from Eaton to Scroggins got the crowd into it and kept it a tie game with eight minutes left in the half. Trailing 23-27, Saint Peter's went on a 12-1 scoring run to take a 35-28 lead over the Saints. The run was highlighted by a 3-pointer by
Eric Morgan Jr. and a Siena flagrant foul that sent
Jahki Gupton to the line.
SECOND HALF: Things got off to a heated start in the second half as a technical foul was given to Siena's head coach, Gerry McNamara, resulting in two free throws for Saint Peter's. The Peacocks used that momentum to secure their largest lead of the game at 50-39. The Saints responded by scoring nine unanswered points to come within just two. A free throw by Eaton put an end to the run as Saint Peter's began to settle down.
As the game went down to the wire, Saint Peter's and Siena kept trading jabs back and forth, with the Peacocks holding a 62-59 lead with 2:53 to go. The Saints went to the line, but missed two key free throws. On the other end,
Zaakir Williamson was fouled and made both shots to go up 64-59. The Peacocks picked up a few more stops down the stretch to hold onto the victory.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks play Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn. next Friday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. ET.
