Ann Arbor, MI – It wasn’t easy, but the Siena Heights University Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams beat nearby Concordia University (MI) Wednesday night.
Lady Saints Long Winning Streak Continues…
The Siena Heights women’s basketball team outlasted Concordia, 72-68, in WHAC action for its 15th straight victory. The winning streak is the Saints’ longest in more than 40 years: Siena Heights won 23 straight in 1978-79.
Kayla Hinton was SHU’s leading scorer with 20 points while Olivia DeLong had a strong double-double effort with 16 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and two steals.
E’Moni Guice-Finch had 14 points, including 11 in a momentum-shifting second quarter. SHU (15-2, 10-1) had trailed 22-15 through one quarter before Guice-Finch led the way back in the second to help the Saints to a 36-32 halftime lead.
Siena Heights maintained the advantage through the third until the host Cardinals (11-5, 10-2) pulled ahead to a 57-54 edge early in the fourth. The Saints regained the lead at 61-57 before CUAA pulled ahead 62-61 — the first of the final six lead changes.
The two teams traded the lead six times during the final five minutes before DeLong made 1 of 2 free throws to put SHU ahead 69-68. After a defensive stop, Guice-Finch increased the lead to two by making 1 of 2 at the line. The game was iced away when E’Anna Won made a steal and then converted a pair of free throws with five seconds left.
The Saints will return to play on Saturday with a visit to Aquinas.
Men Move Up in Conference Standings with Tight Road Win…
The Siena Heights men’s basketball team held on to defeat Concordia 77-74, in a key WHAC conference game. Delano Williams was the leading scorer for the Saints with 16 points, while Shawn Brown had a near double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Brent Wiles also had 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half to help set the tone for the Saints (7-10, 4-7 WHAC) on the evening. In the first half, Concordia held a three-point lead at the half at 39-36. It was in the second half when the Saints were able to make the big-time game-winning plays down the stretch.
After Concordia (5-11, 3-9 WHAC) had the lead for four and a half minutes of the second half, the Saints were finally able to take the lead at 45-44 when Delano Williams made a layup. However, Concordia then was able to go on a 14-5 run to go up 58-50 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game. That was until the Saints went on a 9-0 run of their own to go up 59-58.
In the remaining seconds, the Saints found themselves up one with 19 seconds to go, until Colin Nutter made the game-sealing dunk to ultimately seal the deal for the Saints at 77-74.
SHU will return to action on Saturday, January 20th, as they will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to take on the Aquinas Saints.
(Both games were broadcast on 96.5fm The Cave, with Patt Hayes on the play-by-play)
*Media courtesy of Siena Heights University*