SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – Siena Basketball whittled a 12-point deficit with just 69 seconds remaining down to only two with 3.5 seconds to play, but couldn't complete the comeback in a 70-66 defeat at Cal Poly. Freshman Gary Harris, Jr. scored a season-high 16 points to lead the Saints in his return home to California.

Junior Ballard scored all 15 of his points in the second half for Cal Poly (2-7) which snapped a five-game losing streak. Reserves Alimamy Koroma (14) and Colby Rogers (12) both added double figure performances for the Mustangs which received 36 bench points.

Jalen Pickett scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Siena (2-5) which went winless during its season long four-game road trip. Manny Camper narrowly missed a double-double for the Saints, adding 12 points and nine rebounds.

Siena built as much as a seven-point lead midway through the first half and scored the final six points of the stanza to claim a 33-28 lead at the break. The Los Angeles native Harris sparked the Saints with 13 first half points on 5-7 shooting.

Siena ultimately bridged the halves with 12 unanswered points, scoring the first six to open the second half and claim their biggest lead of the night at 39-28 at the 17:41 mark. But Cal Poly, which shot 54% in the second half, caught fire and responded with a 17-6 run to draw even at 45-all with 11:26 to play.

The teams battled for the next five minutes, with the Saints tying things up one final time at 54-all with 6:16 to go. However the Mustangs embarked upon a decisive 14-4 run over 4:50 to claim their largest lead of the night at 68-56 with just 1:09 remaining.

Siena didn't give up and went on a furious rally, rattling off 10 straight points in less than a minute. The Saints capped the run by forcing two consecutive turnovers which led to a Pickett three with 23 seconds left and a layup from Camper with only 3.5 seconds to go to make it a 68-66 game. But Siena couldn't create a third consecutive turnover and had to foul, leading to the clinching free throws by Cal Poly. The Mustangs shot 13-19 from the free throw line, while the Saints were just 4-12.

Following a season long four-game road trip – and a stretch of what will ultimately be 39 days between home contests – Siena finally returns to the Capital Region to commence its first of two season long four-game homestands in two weeks when the Saints host Bucknell on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Times Union Center