Final Stats | MBB vs Morehead State

ALBANY, N.Y. - Siena will not claim another CBI Championship this season. Lyonell Gaines scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Morehead State to an 84-80 victory over the Saints Tuesday night in the First Round of the CBI. Senior Ryan Oliver scored a season-high 18 points in the final game of his career.

"We had 21 wins, couldn't be prouder," Siena coach Jimmy Patsos said. "They played better than we did; they played harder than we did. There's not a lot of excuses you can make. We got some key stops; they got the rebound and put it in. Maybe that little hint of disappointment from not making the NCAA's creeped in there."

Siena (21-13) shot 53% from the field and placed five in double figures. Freshman Nico Clareth (14) set the Saints' freshman scoring record, surpassing Michael Haddix's mark of 440 points set in 2002-03. Clareth finished his stellar rookie campaign with 447 points.

Morehead State (20-12) tied a CBI record with 16 steals and scored 27 points off 19 Siena turnovers. The Eagles also held a 35-26 advantage on the glass, out-scoring the Saints 48-32 in the paint.

"This time of year is about who wants to win it," Patsos said. "This is a Tournament, it's tough to win. It shows you why March basketball is important."

The Eagles led 44-43 after a fast-paced first half that saw seven ties and 14 lead changes. Oliver scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

"I couldn't be prouder of Ryan Oliver," Patsos said. "People like Ryan Oliver make it worth coaching. I coached two great seniors."

Morehead State led 65-57 after Malik Maitland's layup with 11:23 left, but Siena scored the next six, closing within a bucket on Marquis Wright's pull-up. Wright finished with 15 points and five assists.

"It was good to see Marquis look the best he's looked since his injury," Patsos said.

Clareth scored five straight points to pull Siena within 69-68 with 7:25 remaining, but Morehead State answered with an 8-2 run to push the lead back to seven. Siena extended the game after Clareth closed the gap to 77-73 on a three-pointer with 1:11 to go, but got no closer than three and never had the ball in a one-possession game over the final minute.

Brett Bisping (12) and Javion Ogunyemi (10) rounded out five Saints in double figures. Lavon Long just missed with nine points in 24 minutes off the bench.

The Saints made 9-20 three-pointers, but just 13-20 free throws. Morehead State made the most of its opportunities at the stripe, converting 21-24 attempts to keep Siena at arm's length.

Siena improved its win total 10 games from last season, and returns 90% of its scoring and 91% of its rebounding next season. The future is very bright for Patsos and the Saints.

"I'm here to build this program up, and we're doing really well," Patsos said. "We're in year three of building this program."