Saints falter down stretch

Rider takes advantage of sloppy play to break tie for 2nd in MAAC

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — Rider’s Mervin James made two foul shots with 13.5 seconds left for the go-ahead points in a 69-66 victory over Siena in an important late-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Alumni Gym.

Siena fell to 17-11 overall, 11-6 MAAC, a game behind Rider for second place in the MAAC.

After James’ foul shots made it 66-64 following a foul called on Siena’s Michael Baer, Saints freshman Michael Eley committed a five-second violation on the attempted inbounds pass.

Rider’s Allen Powell made one of two free throws for a 67-64 lead, but Siena’s Andrew Platek threw away the pass in the backcourt and Rider’s Dwight Murray Jr. floated in for the clinching layup.

Platek had 14 points and Jackson Stormo scored 13 for the Saints, who rallied from a 10point halftime deficit to take the lead.

Siena freshman point guard Zek Tekin made a foul shot to put the Saints up 48-47 with 8:21 left, their first lead of the second half.

Then Platek scored a breakaway layup on a turnover and made a 3-pointer from the left side to give Siena a 55-51 advantage with 6:48 to play.

Rider built a 37-27 halftime lead.

Siena shot only 30.3 percent (10-for-33) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including a combined 3-for-23 from guards Jared Billups, Javian Mccollum and Platek.

Meanwhile, the Broncs made 9 of their final 12 shots to end the half and were making 53.3 percent from the floor at intermission.

Rider had a 26-14 scoring edge in the paint in the opening half. Siena had a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points.