SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Siena Heights men's basketball team survived a close contest on the road against Holy Cross on Wednesday evening. The Saints (4-9) win their second game in a row and three of their last five.
Curtis Bell III led the way with 21 points in the contest. Jayden Sims scored double-digit points with 19 on 7-14 shooting from the floor. Kevin Rice and Bell III pulled down seven rebounds in the winning effort.
Holy Cross pulled out to an early 11-6 lead--the home team's largest lead of the game--with 14:18 left in the first half. Kiewuan Graham hit a layup through a foul and completed the and-one to cut the deficit to 11-9. Luis Young made a three-point jumper to give the Saints a 12-11 lead, but a jumper from Holy Cross switched the advantage again. The teams traded leads multiple times in the first half, but the difference was SHU shooting 4-9 from beyond the arc in the 20-minute period to hold a 35-27 advantage at the half.
Smith hit a three-point jumper at 16:38 to give Siena Heights its largest lead of the game at 38-29. Holy Cross cut the SHU lead to 41-40 with 14:09 left to play, but the Saints held onto the lead and pushed their advantage up to 44-40. Holy Cross responded by scoring four-straight points to knot things up with just over 11 minutes remaining. A jump shot from the home team gave them a 48-47 lead with 9:41 on the clock. Young made another shot from three to tie things up at 50 and spark an 8-0 run that moved the needle the Saints way with a 55-50 lead. Once again, Holy Cross responded with a 5-0 run to tie the score. Bell III made a jumper and a free throw for a three-point lead, and that proved to be the difference in the game as Holy Cross failed to tie the score before time expired.
Up Next
The Saints return home to host conference opponent UNOH on Saturday, December 11. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m., EST.
