Furious Comeback Comes Up Just Short As QU Men's Basketball Falls At Siena

Thursday, January 12

Loudonville, NY

8:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

6-11, 3-4

Siena College

6-11, 3-3

Quinnipiac

Siena College

Furious Comeback Comes Up Just Short As QU Men's Basketball Falls At Siena

1/12/2017 10:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Quinnipiac men's basketball team cut a 20-point deficit with 8:30 left down to five points three times in the final two minutes, but were unable to come all the way back as it fell 81-74 on the road to Siena on Thursday evening at the Times Union Center.

Freshman guard Peter Kiss (New York, N.Y.) had 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead a comeback effort that came up just short. With the loss, Quinnipiac is now 6-11 overall on the season and 3-4 in the MAAC. Siena improves to 6-11 overall and 3-3 in the MAAc with the win.

The Bobcats trailed by 14 at the half and couldn't get the lead into single digits in the early part of the second half, before Siena stretched its lead out to 67-47 with 8:45 to play, matching their largest of the game.

Quinnipiac responded, though, with a 14-0 run to get all the way back within six at 67-61 with 3:26 left on a fast break dunk from Kiss, who had eight of Quinnipiac's points during the run. Siena called a timeout and Lavon Long converted on a putback to stop the Bobcat momentum momentarily, but a pair of foul shots from senior forward Donovan Smith (Chicago, Ill.) closed the lead to 70-65 with 1:24 left.

After Siena went back ahead by seven, Kiss had a steal in the backcourt, one of his five thefts on the game, and made two foul shots to make the score 72-67. After Siena went 3-f-4 at the line, freshman guard Mikey Dixon (New Castle, Del.) hit a two-pointer with his toe on the line to close to within 75-69. Siena made two foul shots, and junior guard Reggie Oliver (Apopka, Fla.) nailed a long three-pointer to make the score 77-72 with 44 seconds left, but Siena sealed the win with two foul shots and a fast break layup.

Quinnipiac dug itself a big hole in the first half, falling behind by as many as 20 points at 39-19 with 5:41 on the clock. The Bobcats then used a 9-0 run to close the gap, starting with a twisting layup from junior guard Phil Winston (Lakewood, Wash.) and capped off by a putback from sophomore forward Abdulai Bundu (Upper Marlboro, Md.). Smith added a three-pointer during the run, while Kiss had a driving layup.

Smith had a three-pointer go in and out that would have cut the lead down to eight, and Siena was able to push the lead back up to 16 in the final minute of the half on a dunk from Javion Ogunyemi. Senior guard Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla.) closed out the half with a tip-in to make the score 44-30 at the break.

In addition to Kiss' 17 points, Dixon finished with 14 points, junior forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) had 12 and Bundu had 10 as the Bobcats placed four players in double figures. Dixon also was 2-2 at the foul line, extending his streak to 34 consecutive makes, the longest active streak in the nation and matching the 34 that Shane Richards had last year for Manhattan as the longest single-season streak in MAAC history.

Senior power forward Brett Bisping had 17 of his 19 points in the first half for Siena, while also grabbing 15 rebounds. Senior center Javion Ogunyemi added 19 points for the Saints, while senior point guard Marquis Wright had 18. Senior forward Lavon Long had 11 points and 10 rebounds, including the key putback basket to stop the 14-0 Quinnipiac run.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, when they host Iona for a 2 p.m. contest at the TD Bank Sports Center, which will be aired on ESPN3 as part of the MAAC Game of the Week package.