UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Siena made seven 3-pointers in the second half after a slow start, and the Saints held on to defeat the Norfolk State men's basketball team 61-58 on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The second of two Springfield bracket semifinal games of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, the contest started off slow, as neither team could find itself from deep in the first 20 minutes. The Saints ultimately made 7-of-15 in the second from beyond the arc, taking the lead midway through the half and holding on from there.
The Spartans (2-3) did not go down without a fight, getting to within one three different times in the last few minutes of the game. The last of those came with just 41 seconds left after a layup from senior
Alex Long.
NSU played out the shot clock on defense and got the stop, but a layup attempt on the other end from several feet out was no good. Siena's Kevin Degnan made a pair of shots from the foul line with 0.8 seconds left to ice the win, improving their record to 2-1.
The Spartans will play Stony Brook on Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. in the consolation game of the Springfield bracket. It will mark the first of two matchups with the Seawolves in a week and a half along with an NSU home contest on Nov. 27.
Norfolk State made just 4-of-24 from 3-point range and 39 percent overall. Senior
Derrik Jamerson Jr. tallied 15 points and seven rebounds to lead the way, knocking down three of the team's four treys. Senior
Jordan Butler shot 5-of-7 from the field and nearly tallied a double-double with 13 points and nine boards.
He helped the Spartans finish with an edge on the glass, 35-26. They also outscored the Saints 32-10 in points in the paint while Siena finished 11-of-30 from 3-point range for the game.
The teams combined to shoot less than 25 percent from beyond the arc in the first half on 29 attempts, although NSU did lead 31-26 at the break.
Norfolk State led by as much as five early in the second half, including at the 16:25 mark after a pair of free throws from Butler. Siena closed the gap on a pair of treys, and they got two more from Sloan Seymour for a 46-44 advantage.
Jamerson got the lead right back with a 3-ball of his own, but the Saints scored the next eight points of the game for a 54-47 advantage with 8:17 left. To close out the run, Jalen Pickett made a pair of treys with the shot clock winding down, both times putting up desperation shots that found the bottom of the net.
Butler completed a 3-point play, and layups by senior
Armani Branch and junior
Steven Whitley sliced the Siena lead to one with 3:16 to go. The Saints drained a pair of jumpers, while in between Whitley made a pair of free throws to keep the deficit at one. After the second of those buckets by Siena, Long responded with his layup before NSU was unable to finish.
The Spartans shot just 36 percent overall in the second half, including just 1-of-10 from deep.
They did start the game up 8-2 after Butler and Whitley scored four points each before both took a break, including Whitley thanks to his second foul of the game. The Saints then used a 13-3 run over a five and a half minute span to go ahead 15-11 with less than nine minutes to go in the half.
But the Spartans scored 18 of the game's next 24 points, with Jamerson scoring eight points during that time for a 29-21 edge with time ticking down in the half. The Saints were able to cut the deficit to 31-26 going into the locker room.
Siena made just 4-of-15 from the 3-point line in the first half and 35 percent overall. The Saints shot 48 percent from the floor in the second half, however, outscoring NSU by eight in the last 20 minutes. Seymour and Pickett each made four treys, with Seymour tallying 14 points and Pickett adding 12. Evan Fisher also reached double figures with 13.
The trio combined to hit 13-of-23 from the floor. Pickett also added four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Whitley scored in double figures for the Spartans with 10. They finished with just nine turnovers and also outscored the Saint 14-2 in fastbreak points.
