Balanced Scoring Leads Men’s Basketball to Fourth Straight Victory after Win over Siena

JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team claimed its fourth consecutive home victory on Sunday afternoon, edging Siena College 85-80. The Peacocks take sole possession of second place on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) leaderboard, improving to 7-4 in conference play and 10-10 overall.
 
What Happened

• Saint Peter's trailed for the majority of the first half, falling behind by as many as nine points (30-21) with 5:24 left in the half. 
• Still trailing by nine with 4:50 reading on the clock, the Peacocks locked in on both ends of the floor, putting together a 10-0 run and overtaking the lead (31-30). Offensively, the team was perfect from the line, going 4-for-4 and making 3-of-5 field goals. Defensively, the squad held Siena to no made field goals and forced two turnovers. 
• Dallas Watson and KC Ndefo were the catalyst during the run, with Ndefo scoring four points and Watson scoring two while assisting on a basket.
• At intermission, the game was knotted at 35 apiece. 
• The two sides went back and forth for the early portion of the second half.
• Saint Peter's faced its largest deficit of the second half, five points (52-47), by the 13:50 mark, but the Peacocks would answer the call with an 8-0 rally, spearheaded by Ndefo's six straight points that gave Saint Peter's the lead for the final time in the contest (55-52).
• It remained close over the next couple of minutes, but Cameron Jones broke open the lead when he hit back-to-back threes on consecutive possessions, putting the home unit ahead 63-55.
• The Peacocks kept a hold on the lead, but did allowed the Saints to get back within five-points (72-67) with just under five minutes to go.
• Six straight points, powered by a Fousseyni Drame triple off a dish from Aaron Estrada and a three-point play followed by an Estrada steal, fast break layup, and made free throw, put the Peacocks in an 11-point lead (78-67) with exactly four minutes remaining.
• With one-minute left, Saint Peter's led 78-74, when Estrada connected on a clutch layup and then made two at the charity stripe, expanding the advantage to 82-74 with 30.0 seconds left.
• The Saints added a pair of threes, while the Peacocks hit three free throws down the stretch to secure the bag.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Four Peacocks scored in double-figures; Estrada led the way with 17 points, Ndefo scored 15 points, Hassan Drame scored 12 points, and Jones added a season-high 10 points. This was the first time in MAAC action that a Saint Peter's four-some scored in double-digits, last having four players surpass 10 points in put of conference play against FDU on Dec. 11.
• Estrada was also the team leader in assists, handing out three helpers and Ndefo led the team in rebounds (6), blocked shots (3), and steals (2).
• Quinn Taylor chipped in eight points, with the trio of Daryl Banks III, Doug Edert, and Watson each adding six points.
• Nine out of the 10 players that saw action scored at least five points in the win.
• The Peacocks dominated every statistical category in the victory. They won the rebound battle (29-28), points off turnovers (16-11), points in the paint (34-26), second chance points (18-8), fast break points (9-5), and bench points (49-15).
• For the second consecutive game, Saint Peter's connected on over 24 free throws, knocking down a season-high 30-of-37 freebies.
• Saint Peter's swept its four-game MAAC home stand for just the second time ever, matching the 2015-16 squad which also went 4-0 during a four-game stanza in Jersey City.
• In addition to being the fourth win in a row, the victory was the fifth in the past six contests, improving the Peacocks' home conference record to 5-1 and home overall record to 7-3 on the season. Both home marks are the best starts for the team in the Yanitelli Center since the 2010-11 MAAC Championship squad, which went 6-0 and 8-2, respectively, through the same amount of games.
• The seven MAAC wins surpass last season's conference win total for head coach Shaheen Holloway. The seven-league win total is also the most for the program over the last three seasons. 

Up Next          

• Saint Peter's goes back on the road next Friday, Feb. 7, to meet Marist.
• The sides will meet in Poughkeepsie, NY at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.