Purchase, N.Y. – Playing the first leg of a home-and-home with league rival Manhattanville, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team was edged in overtime on the road Tuesday night by a score of 71-70.
Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) closed the night with a career-high 21 points.
Tuesday's loss, the Mount's third straight, drops it to 6-16 overall on the season and to 4-10 in Skyline Conference play. Manhattanville remains atop the Skyline Conference North Division, improving to 14-7 overall and 11-3 in league action.
First Half
- Mount Saint Mary built a lead of seven points in the early going on a Sienke layup in transition that pushed the Knights in front 9-2 at the 15:33 mark of the opening period.
- The Mount maintained the lead until the 11:54 mark of the half when Manhattanville's Ryan Giordano converted a layup to knot the score at 12-12.
- The Giordano conversion was part of an 8-1 stretch for the Valiants, covering just over four minutes, that saw them move in front 16-13 with just under nine minutes left before halftime.
- Sienke canned a three-pointer for the Knights to push them back in front 18-17 at the 7:11 mark of the half.
- Following the Sienke triple, the half would be played within a three-point window until an 8-0 closing run by Manhattanville over the final 3:44 of the first half.
- The Valiants went 2-for-3 from the floor over the run and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as they built a 30-24 halftime advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary went without a field goal following a J.P. Egan (Lansdale, Pa.) bucket with 3:59 left in the period.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 41.7-percent overall in the opening stanza and went 3-for-9 from three-point range.
- Manhattanville posted a 36.7-percent conversion rate and went just 1-for-11 from behind the arc, but outscored the Mount 7-1 from the free-throw line.
- Sienke went 5-for-7 from the floor to lead the Mount with 12 first half points.
- Mike Granda led the Valiants with seven tallies before halftime.
Second Half
- Mount Saint Mary scored the first 11 points of the second stanza, highlighted by seven points from Connor Cyran (Garfield, N.J.), to surge in front 35-30 over the opening 3:25 of the half.
- The Mount pushed its lead out to a game-high nine points, at 50-41, on a pair of Jayden Figueroa (New Windsor, N.Y.) free-throws with 7:51 left to play.
- The Knights remained in front by at least a possession until the 2:20 mark when Giordano converted a layup to knot the score at 57-57.
- Sienke quickly gave the Knights back the lead with a bucket at the 1:44 mark, before four straight points from Manhattanville saw it grab a 61-59 advantage in the final half minute of regulation.
- Cyran got a layup to go off a feed from Sienke in the closing seconds to even the score at 61-61 and send the game into the extra period.
- Mount Saint Mary shot an efficient 50-percent in the second stanza, going 4-for-11 from three-point range and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.
- Manhattanville shot 39.4-percent overall and connected on three triples.
- Cyran led the way in the second period for the Knights with 12 points.
- Petey Galgano scored eight points in the second half for the Valiants.
Overtime
- After the two teams alternated the first three buckets of the overtime period, Manhattanville got a free-throw from Giordano and a three-pointer from Granda to open a 69-63 lead with 64 seconds left to play.
- Mount Saint Mary answered with seven of the last eight points, including a three-pointer from Cyran, to pull to within the final 71-70 decision.
- Following two misses by the Valiants from the free-throw line, the Mount had a look at the horn that would not go.
- Mount Saint Mary went 4-for-10 from the floor in the overtime period, but misfired on each of its three free-throw attempts.
- Manhattanville connected on three of its five field goal attempts and held on after going just 3-for-10 from the free-throw line.
- Cyran led the Knights in the overtime period with five of their nine points.
- Giordano scored half of the Valiants' 10 points in the extra period.
For The Knights
- Sienke reached the 20-point mark in a game for the first time in his career after going 9-for-15 from the floor with a pair of triples. He matched the team-high in assists with four, adding seven rebounds, a block and two steals.
- Chris Yearwood (Red Hook, N.Y.) added 18 points for the Knights, finishing the tilt 6-for-13 from the floor with a trio of triples.
- Cyran contributed 17 points, going 6-for-12 from the field with a pair of three-pointers. Cyran collected nine rebounds and joined Sienke with a team-high four assists.
- Figueroa led the team with 10 rebounds and totaled four points, three assists and a pair of blocks.
For The Valiants
- Giordano came off the bench to lead Manhattanville with 17 points, adding five rebounds and three blocked shots.
- Galgano and Granda each scored 13 points with Galgano leading all players with five assists and three steals.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot at a 44.8-percent clip overall and finished 8-for-22 from three-point range.
- Manhattanville shot 39.7-percent and hit on five three-pointers.
- Both teams struggled from the free-throw line with the Knights going 10-for-18 and the Valiants going 12-for-23.
- Manhattanville finished with a 40-22 edge in paint points and a tight 18-17 advantage in points off of turnovers, including a 4-0 edge in overtime.
What's Next
- The two teams will finish off the home-and-home series on Thursday at the Kaplan Center.
