ALBANY, NY – The five Siena Basketball seniors accounted for 50 points as the Saints completed the regular season series sweep of I-87 rival Marist with a 67-55 Senior Day triumph in front of 6,806 at the Times Union Center. Fifth-year senior Kevin Degnan scored a career-high 25 points for Siena which kept pace in a tightly contested race for the MAAC Regular Season Championship.

Degnan, who totaled 26 points all of last season in his first year suiting up for Siena (15-14, 10-6), shot 8-12 from the field including 6-9 from distance while adding six rebounds and a pair of blocks. Senior Evan Fisher contributed 16 points for the Saints who started all five seniors on Senior Day.

Brian Parker scored 15 points and added six assists and four steals to lead Marist (12-16, 7-9), which has dropped back-to-back games after having won their previous four. Ryan Funk added 11 points off the bench for the Red Foxes which held an 18-7 advantage in points off turnovers and a 13-3 margin in second chance points.

Marist raced out to an 11-point lead at 17-6 less than seven minutes into the contest. But Siena quickly shook its early Senior Day jitters, responding with the next 11 points highlighted by a trio of Degnan threes to erase the deficit. Seniors Degnan (14 points), Fisher (14), and Kadeem Smithen (three) combined to account for all of the first half scoring for the Saints who took a 31-28 lead at the break.

Siena embarked upon a 15-2 run early in the second half as the lead ballooned to 15 at 52-37 with 12:54 to go. The Saints host 57% (13-23) in the second half and led by as many as 16 late to secure their 21^st win in the last 26 meetings with the Red Foxes, including 11 of the last 12 in Albany. Siena held the MAAC's top field goal shooting (.458) and three-point shooting (.375) squad in Marist to just 36% from the field including only 2-17 from distance.

Jalen Pickett narrowly missed a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds, and broke the Siena freshman scoring record with his final basket of the game. Pickett, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, has now totaled 448 points and counting during his remarkable freshman season.

Smithen celebrated his second Senior Day by chipping in with points for the Saints which forged a four-way tie for second place in the MAAC Standings with Canisius, Rider, and Quinnipiac. Siena remains just a half game out of first place behind new conference frontrunner Iona. The Gaels conclude their regular season schedule Friday at Rider, while the Saints have two games remaining.

Following a highly successful 6-2 February, Siena returns to action when the calendar turns to March next weekend with the always challenging two-game road trip to Western New York. The Saints open the swing with a nationally televised Friday night primetime showdown at fellow contender Canisius at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.