LOUDONVILLE, NY – Playing on the road for the first time, Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) netted 20 points and George Papas (Jersey City, NJ/Union Catholic) added 15 but Monmouth University Men's Basketball (3-3, 3-2 MAAC) was just edged by Siena College (1-0, 1-0 MAAC) 78-77 on Sunday afternoon.

Siena opened the second half on a 10-3 run but MU came right back, and the game was within one possession for a bulk of the second period. The Blue and White ripped off seven in a row, including four in a row from Papas to lead by four with 5:16 remaining. In a game that featured multiple late lead changes, Hammond put the Hawks up at 2:31 with a leaner and again with a bucket inside with 1:21 remaining. Kyle Young's dunk put Siena up to stay with 1:02 to go, and the Saints converted free throws down the stretch to hold off the Hawks.

Neither team separated in the early stages, and six in a row for MU had the Hawks leading at the 9:15 mark by two. At 7:05, Melik Martin (York, PA/York Catholic) converted a three-point play to extend the Hawk lead to five, and Hammond shortly thereafter knocked home a three to make it 27-21. The MU lead was never more than six, and that was the halftime margin after Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) hit a triple.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"I thought it was a good college game. I thought their players made a few more plays than ours. I told everyone Jalen Pickett needs to play. Manny Camper's going to get his legs underneath him. Carmen does a tremendous job. It was just a good, solid college basketball game today. They did more than us so they got us by one, and we're excited to try again tomorrow." – King Rice
 
-Gob Gabriel's eight points marks a career high.
-Deion Hammond posted his 18^th career 20+ point game.
-George Papas scored in double figures for the fourth time in six games.
-Myles Ruth tied his career best with seven points, doing so for the second game in a row.
-Nikkei Rutty grabbed seven rebounds, the fourth time in six games he has had over five boards in a contest.
-Marcus McClary's team-high eight rebounds was tied for his highest output this season.
-Monmouth was playing on the road for the first time since February 28 at Rider, a span of 310 days.
-Siena was playing its first game of the season, the final MAAC team to play this year.


NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot Siena 47.5% to 43.1%.
-The Hawks outrebounded the Saints 37-35.
-MU was better off the bench, 33-15.
-Monmouth outran Siena 13-5 on the fast break.
-MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Jalen Pickett led Siena with 20 points.
-Kyle Young added a double-double for Siena with 15 and 10.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth and Siena wrap up the weekend set tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. at the Alumni Recreation Center. The game will air on ESPN3 and via the radio on the Monmouth Digital Network.