- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,265,473
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Siena's Gavin Doty looks for an open man in the first half of Sunday's MAAC semifinal vs. Fairfield in Atlantic City. (Lisa Schlager)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Justice Shoats scored 26 points and Gavin Doty added 25 points as the third-seeded Siena men's basketball team downed No. 7 seed Fairfield 76-61 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinal at Boardwalk Hall on Sunday night.
The Saints (22-11) rode a hot-shooting start to a 10-point halftime lead and held off a Stags comeback to advance to their first MAAC championship game since 2017.
They'll face top-seeded Merrimack in the final at 9 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN2.
Siena is aiming for its first MAAC title since 2020 and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2010. The Saints were awarded the trophy in 2020 when the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19.
Siena turned the tables on Fairfield (21-13), which beat the Saints 72-58 in Connecticut nine days ago in a game the Saints never led. That was the first game Siena played without graduate forward Antonio Chandler, ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
On Sunday, Siena trailed just once - at 2-0. The Saints built a 45-32 lead with 16:05 left.
Just like Mount St. Mary's in Siena's quarterfinal win on Saturday, Fairfield (which starts four freshmen) made a second-half run. Freshman Tony Williams knocked down a 3-pointer on the fast break to cap a 9-0 run that sliced the Saints' lead to 45-41 with 13:29 to play.
However, Riley Mulvey and Justice Shoats answered with back-to-back baskets to make it 49-41.
Gavin Doty made a 3-pointer and Shoats hit a jumper from the left baseline to push the lead to 58-48 with 7:44 left. A Shoats 3-pointer from the left side with the shot clock running down expanded the lead to 61-48.
Siena built a 40-30 halftime lead.
The Saints shot 53.6% from the field and 7-of-11 from 3-point range in the opening half.
Brendan Coyle hit a 3-pointer for Siena's first basket, Gavin Doty and Justice Shoats each hit a pair of 3-pointers and freshman Isaiah Henderson came off the bench to add two more 3-pointers.
Shoats also made difficult shots near the basket. He finished a lefty shot while sailing out of bounds on the right baseline for a three-point play. He also went under the basket to ward off Brandon Benjamin and make a reverse layup.
Siena went on a 11-0 run to take a 24-13 lead with 9:44 to play in the half.
Fairfield coach Chris Casey switched from man-to-man defense to zone late in the first half, but it failed to slow the Saints down much.
This article originally published at Siena men's basketball earns spot in MAAC championship game.
Continue reading...
