Feb. 18, 2003

Box Score

Tommy Mitchell fueled an inspired Siena (15-9/9-6 MAAC) effort Tuesday night, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half-including eight straight-as the Saints pulled away for an 84-71 MAAC triumph over Niagara (13-11/9-6 MAAC) before an energetic crowd of 6,647 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany. The victory pulled Siena into a fourth place tie in the conference standings with the Purple Eagles as both teams continue to vie for one of the MAAC's crucial top four Tournament seeds.

The evenly-matched first stanza saw 11 ties and 10 lead changes. Niagara went to the lockerroom up 41-38. Deficient in the three, Siena couldn't hit any of its six three-point attempts, compared to Niagara's four (44%) conversions beyond the arc. The Saints responded by converting seven of their 12 attempts from long range in the second half.

The Saints out-shot Niagara 43%-37%, but were out-rebounded by the smaller Purple Eagles 25-6. Tremmel Darden contributed 18 of his 21 points in the first half for the visitors. Siena's Antione Jordan added 10 of his 15 points for the victors.

After trailing for the first nine minutes of the second half, the Saints closed the game on fire from the field to build as large as a 17-point advantage on several occasions. Siena connected on 56% of their field goal attempts in the second half.

Jordan's driving layup at 10:51 gave Siena its first lead of the second half and Mitchell followed with the decisive sequence. Propser Karangwa sealed the fate of Niagara, with four minutes left, hitting a three to put Siena up seven. Karangwa finished as one of four Siena players in double figures with 18 points. Austin Andrews rounded out the quartet with 10.

Niagara's Juan Mendez ended with 17 points and 14 rebounds despite being in foul trouble for the majority of the evening.

Siena improved to 7-5 at home this season.

Siena travels to Trenton, N.J., the site of the MAAC Tournament, to face off with Rider on Sunday, February 23. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m.