HAMDEN, CT – Siena Basketball went on a 9-2 spurt late to post a critical 78-71 victory over Quinnipiac at the People's United Center. Colby Rogers recorded 18 points to pace the Saints, who reclaimed sole possession of second place in the MAAC Standings with just three games remaining.
 
Siena (14-11, 11-6) benefitted from a balanced offensive performance, as all eight Saints who played each tallied at least two field goals apiece, while seven of the eight scored eight points or more. Nick Hopkins contributed all 12 of his points in the first half on a Siena career-high tying four threes, while Jared Billups added eight of his 10 points in the second half to go along with seven rebounds.
 
Dezi Jones scored a game-high 24 points for Quinnipiac (12-13, 7-10), which has dropped six of seven to sink into eighth place in the MAAC Standings. Reserve Luis Kortright added 18 points, and Tymu Chenery chipped in 16. Jones and Kortright combined to shoot 17-27 (63%) from the field including 6-11 (55%) from three, while the rest of the Bobcats managed to shoot just 10-34 (29%) from the floor and 4-14 (29%) from distance.
 
The Saints raced out to a 22-9 start at the midway mark of the first half, and led by as many as 14 in the opening stanza. But Quinnipiac responded with the final nine points of the half to rally back within 33-28 at the break.
 
The Bobcats ultimately bridged the two halves with 15 unanswered points to briefly take the lead, and it was game on from there. Siena shot 52% overall and led for more than 34 minutes however Quinnipiac, who entered the day ranked 50^th nationally in threes (8.9), made 10 more to hang tight.
 
But the Saints dug deep and answered the bell down the stretch. Billups broke a 65-all-tie and put Siena ahead for good at the 2:43 mark, kickstarting the decisive late flurry. Jackson Stormo added a big three-point play to push the lead to five with exactly a minute to go, and Anthony Gaines converted a pair of clutch free throws to cap the run and virtually seal the deal at 74-67 with 35 seconds remaining. The Saints once again continued their recent mastery of the free throw line, converting on 14-15 in the second half to complete the sweep of the Bobcats.
 
Stormo and Javian McCollum each notched nine points for Siena, which improved to 8-1 this season on just one day's rest. Reserve Michael Baer posted a career-high eight points off the bench for the Saints, who bounced back from Tuesday's tough loss at Monmouth to pull a half-game ahead of both the Hawks and Saint Peter's in the MAAC Standings. Monmouth and the Peacocks are set to meet Friday night in a matchup with major implications on the Jersey Shore.
 
Siena concludes its pivotal five-game, 10-day stretch Sunday when the Saints host the Hawks in another huge MAAC matchup on Senior Day at 2 p.m. at MVP Arena.