ALBANY, NY – Reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year Takal Molson scored 23 points and MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Reese added 20 as defending MAAC Co-Regular Season Champion Canisius overcame a 15-point first half deficit to defeat Siena Basketball 70-66 in the Saints' conference home-opener before a crowd of 6,432 at the Times Union Center. Evan Fisher and Jalen Pickett, who combined to sweep the MAAC's weekly awards for Siena Monday, both recorded double-doubles for the shorthanded Saints which dressed just eight healthy scholarship players.

The MAAC's fourth leading scorer entering play (16.6), Molson added eight rebounds while Reese swiped five steals for Canisius (5-8, 2-0) which has captured 10 of the past 13 meetings between the programs. Scott Hitchon chipped in 11 points for the Golden Griffins which earned just their ninth victory in 44 Division I matchups between the schools in the Capital Region.

Fisher tallied his first collegiate double-double with 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for Siena (5-10, 0-2) which fell to 21-9 all-time in MAAC home openers. Pickett, who entered play ranked seventh nationally in assists (7.1), dished out 11 more to go along with 14 points to post the third double-double of his freshman season.

After missing their first six shots including four three-point attempts to open the game, the Saints connected on eight of their next 10 highlighted by 6-7 from distance. The outburst including threes on four consecutive possessions, which helped in part to fuel a 23-4 run to stake the Saints to their largest lead of the night at 32-17 with 6:44 remaining in the first half.

Siena ultimately drilled nine threes in the opening stanza to propel the Saints to their highest scoring first half of the year and a 40-30 lead at the break. Siena outscored Canisius 27-3 from behind the three-point line in the opening half, and all six Saints who played more than a minute in the stanza each hit at least one three apiece.

But the Golden Griffins commenced the second half by connecting on seven of their first eight shots, which in part sparked a 16-4 spurt, as Canisius reclaimed a 53-51 lead with 10:06 remaining. The teams exchanged the lead four times thereafter, with the Golden Griffins wrestling back the lead for good at 59-58 on a Jalanni White jumper with 5:47 to go.

Sloan Seymour hit one of Siena's 13 threes to rally the Saints back within 64-63 with 35.7 seconds remaining, however Canisius connected on each of its final seven free throw attempts to hang on. The Golden Griffins shot 17-22 from the free throw line overall, compared to just 5-9 for Siena.

Seymour tied a career-high with 15 points on five threes for the Saints which shot just 30% in the second half to Canisius' 50%.

Siena returns to action Friday for a nationally televised tilt on ESPNU at I-87 rival Marist. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Poughkeepsie.