ADRAIN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's basketball team battled back, but fell short to conference opponent Indiana Tech, 78-72, on Wednesday.

The Warriors controlled the majority of the first half, leading at halftime 39-24, but the second half was another story.

With 18:27 remaining on the clock, the Warriors (7-4, 5-1) took their biggest lead during the night of 18 points. In an exciting turn-of-events, Siena Heights battled back and cut the Warrior lead down to five points with 7:07 remaining on the clock. Indiana Tech was able to outlast the Saints, and won by six points.

The Saints (4-7, 2-4) doubled their points from the first half, 24, in the second half, 48. SHU also held Indiana Tech to 39 points in both halves.

Coach Joseph Pechota had this to say about the second half improvement: "In the second half, our best offense was our defence. From day one...we've had a focus on our offense coming from a tough, tenacious defense--and I thought we did that in the second half."

George Goodman led SHU with 16 points while three other Saints shot in the double-digits, Tony Jackson (12), Christopher Pearl (11) and Michael Fomby (11).

Jaelen Manson and Miles Robinson led the Warriors in points with 24 points and 22 points, respectively.

SHU shot 10-34 (29.4 percent) from the floor in the first half. The team improved to 18-35 (51.4 percent) in the second half. Pechota added, "I was just really pleased by how hard we played. We competed to our identity--what we want to be and what we can be as a team."

The main difference of the night came from behind the three-point arch. The Warriors shot 10-17 (58.8 percent) from three-point land, while the Saints were 5-14 (35.7 percent).

Siena Heights will host a vital match-up against WHAC opponent Michigan-Dearborn, on Saturday. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m.