SMITHFIELD, RI – Siena Basketball led for less than three of 45 minutes, but never gave up and fought back to start the Gerry McNamara Era with a second straight exhilarating overtime victory. Justice Shoats drained the game-winning free throws with 16.9 seconds left to send the Saints past Bryant 90-88 in an epic overtime battle at the Chace Athletic Center.
 
Shoats came off the bench again to score 22 of his 31 points after halftime for Siena (2-0) which opened with consecutive overtime contests for the first time in the program's 84 seasons. The newcomer from Division II Lock Haven added five assists, and has now totaled 54 points in his first two games as a Saint.
 
Rafael Pinzon scored 23 of his game-high 33 points in the first half to lead four double figure scorers for Bryant (1-1) which suffered just its fourth defeat in its last 21 non-conference home games. Barry Evans (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Preseason All-America East selection Earl Timberlake (11/11) added double-doubles for the Bulldogs who won 20 games a season ago.
 
Bryant led for nearly 39 minutes and by as many as 11 early, doubling up Siena 22-11 less than eight minutes in. But, as was the theme all night long, the Saints battled back. Preseason Second Team All-MAAC selection Major Freeman scored eight of the final 10 Siena points in the opening stanza to pull the Saints within 48-43 at the break.
 
The Bulldogs led for the majority of the second half, pushing their advantage back to as many as nine at 77-68 with 5:50 remaining. But Freeman and Brendan Coyle connected for clutch back-to-back threes on consecutive possessions to draw Siena even at 81-all with 1:52 to go. Neither team would score for the remainder of regulation in a high-scoring affair – despite several frenetic possessions – thanks to several huge defensive stops.
 
The Saints set up for the final shot in overtime following a timeout in front of their bench, but over-aggressive Bryant fouled Shoats on the inbounds to set up the decisive free throws. Following the makes, the Bulldogs had a pair of looks in the paint to tie, but Siena held on. The Saints connected on three of their four field goal attempts in the extra session while tightening the screws defensively on Bryant – which had shot an even 50% during regulation – to just 2-10 in overtime.
 
Freeman finished with 19 points for Siena which played the program's first back-to-back overtime games in nine years. The Saints defeated both Bucknell and Loyola (MD) in consecutive overtime contests Nov. 24-28, 2015.
 
Coyle added 12 points for Siena which made 11 threes and shot a stellar 23-27 from the free throw line in a foul-plagued contest. The teams combined to shoot 64 free throws in a bruising battle which featured 53 combined fouls called.
 
The Saints now ride a wave of momentum back home from the Ocean State heading into their next matchup vs. American Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at MVP Arena.