NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Justice Shoats and Gavin Doty combined for 48 points to power Siena Basketball to a regular season sweep of Niagara with an 82-79 victory at the Gallagher Center.
 
Shoats scored a season-high 25 points on 10-15 shooting while adding six assists (zero turnovers) in another masterful performance against Niagara (5-16, 2-9). The Siena (15-7, 8-3) floor general has now averaged 21.0 points and 6.8 assists in four career games vs. the Purple Eagles.
 
The reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week, Doty added 23 points and eight rebounds in an encore performance for the surging Saints which have won four straight overall as well as four consecutive road games. 
 
Josiah Sabino – who entered play just 4-27 from three all season – shot 4-5 from distance and 7-8 overall on his way to a 19-point performance for Niagara which connected for a season-high 14 threes.
 
Returning to action for the first time in eight days, Siena played the Purple Eagles to 11 lead changes and six ties in a first half in which neither team led by more than two possessions. The Saints took a 42-40 lead at the break following an entertaining opening 20 on Monteagle Ridge.
 
Siena never relinquished the lead in the second half and utilized a 12-3 run down the stretch to claim as much as a 14-point margin at 69-55 with 6:25 remaining. Freshman reserve Christian Jones sparked the spurt with a pair of threes.
 
Niagara made four threes in the final 49 seconds, but it wasn't enough as the Saints completed their first regular season series sweep of the Purple Eagles in seven years. Siena has now averaged an even 88 points in its past four wins in the series.
 
The top-shooting team in the MAAC, the Saints connected at a stellar 61% clip from the field to eclipse the 60% mark for the second time in three games. Siena also shot an important 20-23 (87%) from the free throw line as opposed to just 7-13 for Niagara in what finished as a one-possession final.
 
Landon Williams added 18 points for the Purple Eagles which have lost four straight, the past three of which have been by a total of five points. Justin Hawkins and Vice Zanki added 16 apiece for Niagara which lost despite shooting 54% both overall and from three while dishing out 21 assists.
 
Francis Folefac rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points for the Saints which have now surpassed their win total from all of last season before the start of February.
 
Siena will now attempt to do something it hasn't accomplished in a decade – sweep the Western New York trip. The Saints will aim to complete that feat when they face Canisius Sunday at 1 p.m. in Buffalo.