WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Siena Basketball is the 2019-20 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions. The Saints secured the program's eighth MAAC Regular Season Championship and fourth outright with an 86-72 triumph over Monmouth at the OceanFirst Bank Center.

Siena (19-10, 15-5) clinches the MAAC's automatic NIT berth should the Saints not prevail in next week's 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Championships at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Siena will be the No. 1 seed and begin its quest for a sixth MAAC Tournament Championship in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Saints will face the winner of the First Round matchup between No. 8 Fairfield and No. 9 Manhattan which tips off Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Five players scored in double figures as part of a balanced team-wide offensive attack for Siena who scored the program's first MAAC Regular Season Championship since 2009-10 despite being predicted to finish sixth according to the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Manny Camper and Jalen Pickett both registered double-doubles for the Saints who will enter the MAAC Tournament winners of nine straight and 12 of 13.

Deion Hammond scored a game-high 27 points for Monmouth (18-13, 12-8) who will be the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament and face No. 5 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal matchup Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Ray Salnave added 12 points and George Papas contributed 10 points for the Hawks who suffered just their second home loss in 13 games this season.

Siena shot 55% from the field and made 10 threes to post their fourth straight road win and fifth in their last six away from home following an 0-9 start on the road. The Saints held a commanding 43-27 rebounding advantage which led to a 17-4 margin in second chance points, while also eclipsing 20 assists for the second straight game.

Siena trailed for only 67 seconds and led by as many as 19 points in a dominant road effort. The Saints scored 11 unanswered points midway through the first half to fuel an 18-3 run to take a 39-20 lead with 5:54 remaining. Monmouth ended the half with a 14-4 response to close to within nine at the break at 43-34.

But Siena reclaimed the momentum from right out of the locker room. The Saints opened the second half on a 14-5 run to double their halftime lead to 57-39 with 13:47 to go. Siena shot 65% (15-23) in the second half and never led by fewer than nine points the rest of the way as the Saints completed their first regular season series sweep of the Hawks and secured their first win in seven tries in West Long Branch since Monmouth joined the MAAC in 2013-14.

Camper recorded his 14^th double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds for Siena who improved to 7-2 this season on Fridays. Pickett posted his fourth double-double and second straight with 15 points and 11 assists, and is now averaging 7.7 assists over his past 14 games.

Donald Carey led all Siena scorers with 18 points on 7-11 shooting including four threes, while Elijah Burns added 14 points. Reserve Jordan King rounded out Siena's double figure scorers with 12 points on 4-6 shooting from distance.

The Saints will now prepare for their return trip down the shore as they get ready to take on either Fairfield or Manhattan Wednesday night. The Saints swept the regular season series from the Stags, winning 65-49 on Feb. 7 in Albany and 62-59 in Connecticut on Feb. 23. Meanwhile Siena split with the Jaspers, falling 81-69 on Jan. 12 in Riverdale, before posting a 65-52 victory on Feb. 16 at the Times Union Center.