ALBANY, NY – The Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup is coming back home to Loudonville. A mini 9-1 run late pushed Siena Basketball to its second Franciscan Cup triumph in three years with a 76-70 victory over sister-school St. Bonaventure at MVP Arena.
 
Javian McCollum scored a game-high 23 points and posted a stellar plus/minus of +19 in the six-point contest for Siena (6-5, 1-0), while Jackson Stormo added 14 points on 5-6 shooting and seven rebounds. The Saints were propelled by a strong all-around shooting night, connecting at a 50% clip both overall from the field as well as from three, and made 23-26 (89%) free throws. St. Bonaventure (6-6) had entered the night ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal defense (25.3%).
 
Reserve Moses Flowers led a balanced attack of five double figure scorers with 14 points on 5-6 shooting for the Bonnies, which have dropped four of five to open December. Saint Peter's transfer Daryl Banks III – St. Bonaventure's leading scorer at 16.5 points per game – chipped in a quiet 11 points on just 5-13 shooting including only 1-7 from three for the Bonnies, which lost despite shooting 52% from the field.
 
Siena raced out to a quick 10-2 start and led by as many as 10 points early in the first half. St. Bonaventure ultimately erased the deficit, although the Saints ended the half on a 12-4 spurt to claim a 38-31 lead at the break.
 
The second half was tight throughout – featuring four ties and 10 lead changes – but Siena broke through late. Stormo completed a three-point play to kickstart the decisive run, and give the Saints the lead for good at 66-64 with 2:00 remaining. He later bookended the flurry with a pair of free throws to push the lead to seven at 72-65, and all but put the game away with 32 seconds to go.
 
Siena, which entered play shooting 80.4% from the free throw line over its past eight games, shot 16-17 from the charity stripe in the second half including a perfect 8-8 in the final minute to seal the victory.
 
Andrew Platek (11 points) and Michael Eley (10) rounded out the double figure scorers for the Saints, who improved to 27-4 under head coach Carmen Maciariello when placing four or more in double figures.
 
Siena will put a bow on its non-conference schedule later this week when they head back to the Nation's Capital for the second time this month. The Saints face Patriot League upstart American for a Holiday Week matinee Thursday at 1 p.m. in Washington, DC.