LIVONIA, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's basketball season came to an end as they fell to 14th-ranked Madonna in the quarterfinal round of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) tournament, on Wednesday night. PJ Austin (Senior, Cleveland, Ohio) led the Saints in the losing effort with 19 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Madonna 93, Siena Heights 66
Location: Livonia, Michigan (MU Activities Center)
Records: Madonna (23-8), Siena Heights (13-18)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Crusaders jumped out to a 14-2 lead sparked by a three-point shot made by Dwight Burton and ended as Joshua Reynolds drained a three-point shot at the 16:12 mark. The Saints cut the deficit to four-points (16-12) after Anthony Duncan (Freshman, Kissimmee, Fla.) made a layup with 12:50 on the clock. Madonna regained momentum as they earned a double-digit lead (29-17) as Burton made a three-pointer with 9:48 left of play in the first half. The Crusaders maintained a double-digit lead over Siena the remainder of the half with their biggest lead of 15 points (44-29) sparked by a pair of free-throws made by Mark Mettie. The Saints earned the closest margin of 12 points (44-32) after Kevin Rice (Junior, Detroit, Mich.) made a three-point shot with 2:54 left on the clock. Madonna would increase the lead to 50-32 sparked by a tip-in made by Reynolds as the game went into intermission.
Siena scored six straight points (52-41) starting with a pair of free-throws made by DeMarco Dickerson (Senior, Detroit, Mich.) and finished with a layup made by Austin at the 16:30 mark. The Saints were gaining on Madonna as they cut the lead to 60-52 sparked by a layup made by Kevin Smith II (Senior, Detroit, Mich.) with 12:54 left on the clock. The Crusaders earned some cushion as they scored 10 straight points for a 20-point lead (72-52) as a layup by Juwan Hampton was good with 8:00 left of gameplay. Madonna earned a 30-point lead (93-63) as a jump shot was made by Noah Campbell with 1:19 left in the game. Nmeso Nnebedum (Freshman, Kalamazoo, Mich.) drained a three-point shot for Siena with 58 seconds left of the game as the Crusaders took home the 93-66 victory.
TOP SAINTS
• Austin went 7-10 from the floor, 4-6 from beyond the arch, and 1-2 from the charity stripe.
• Rice contributed 17 points, four rebounds, and one block. He went 7-14 from the floor and 3-5 on three-point attempts.
• Dickerson tallied nine points, four rebounds and a team-high of four assists. He went 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from beyond the arch, and 4-6 from the charity stripe.
• Keith Jordan Jr. (Senior, Toledo, Ohio) had a team-high of seven rebounds.
THE OPPOSITION
• Burton led the Crusaders with 40 points, five rebounds, and one assist. He went 13-21 from the floor, 7-10 on three-point attempts, and 7-9 on free-throw attempts.
• Reynolds recorded 21 points, six rebounds, two assists, a team-high of two steals, and one block. He went 8-19 from the floor, 2-5 from beyond the arch, and 3-4 from the charity stripe.
• Mettie earned a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds and a team-high of four blocks. He went 6-10 from the floor and 2-3 on free-throw attempts.
• Caleb Drumm had a team-high of seven assists,
SEASON WRAP-UP
The Saints finish the 2019 season with a 13-18 overall record and a 9-11 conference mark. Some highlights of the season included Dickerson and Jordan reaching their 1,000-point milestone along with Dickerson earning his first triple-double of his career, Austin set a school record of most three-pointers made in a game as he went 9-17 against Wright State-Lake, and Joe Pechota earned his 100th career win as head coach at Siena Heights.
