Brown junior guard Kino Lilly Jr. tallied 11 straight points, including his first two three-pointers of the game, to complete the Bears’ 18-point comeback over Siena at the Pizzitola Sports Center Friday afternoon in a 71-67 win.
Following a 12-day break for final exams, Bruno (4-9) came out flat in the first half and found itself down 38-23 at the half.
“They (Siena) played with way more energy than we did,” Brown head coach Mike Martin remarked to ESPN+ at halftime. “They were more excited to be here, and that should never be the case. Unacceptable on our end.”
The Saints (2-10) shot well from the outside in the opening twenty minutes, hitting 7 of 12 (58%) from beyond the arc, and scored 10 points off of eight Bruno turnovers. Meanwhile, the hosts only shot 29% (8-for-28) from the field, missing a number of shots from close range, and only managed one point off of Siena’s six turnovers.
“Good news is we have 20 minutes to fix it,” said a hopeful Martin as he headed to the locker room.
Sean Durugordon, a two-time transfer who was recently cleared to play for Siena and went for 23 points and 15 rebounds over Cornell on Tuesday, hit a three-pointer 30 seconds into the second half to extend the visitors’ lead to a game-high 18.
From there, the more experienced Bears regrouped and battled back against the third-youngest team in the nation.
Brown methodically chipped away at the lead, cutting it to two, 58-56, with five minutes left in regulation.
The Saints recovered with a 6-2 run and held a 64-58 with 1:43 on the clock.
Bruno sophomore forward Kalu Anya hit a quick layup to make it a four-point game before Lilly took over.
The 2023 All-Ivy First Team selection missed his first 10 triples of the game, but he calmly sank a three-pointer from the left wing to reduce the deficit to one with 1:15 to go.
After an unsuccessful Siena possession, the hosts worked the clock down, and Lilly nailed a step-back three from the right wing to give Brown a 66-64 lead at the 35-second mark, its first lead since the second minute of the game.
Durugordon hit one of two free throws and Lilly hit both of his to put Brown up three, 68-65.
Following a Siena timeout, junior forward Nana Owusu-Anane deflected and stole the long inbound pass, before dishing it off to Lilly Jr. The Glenn Dale, Md. native sank both foul shots to give Bruno an insurmountable five-point lead.
“We didn’t play well in the first half,” Martin reiterated to ESPN+ following the game. “We didn’t play with the energy or confidence we needed to. But so much credit to our guys for the playing the way they did in the second half.”
Over the last 20 minutes, Brown’s defense held the Saints to a 21% (3-for-14) effort from downtown and a 17% advantage on the glass. Offensively, the Bears shot a strong 62% (16-for-26) from inside the arc.
While the ended up only shooting 21% from beyond the arc and making four baskets on the afternoon, the team, specifically Lilly, went 2-for-2 when it counted most.
The coach had no worries with his star taking those long-range shots, even after an 0-10 start. “The only time I’ll get mad at him is if he stops shooting,” Martin said.
On the day, Lilly totaled a game-high 26 points and a team-high five rebounds as well as four rebounds. Anya added 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Owusu-Anane registered a game-high 12 boards and six points.
In the losing effort, Durugordon posted 24 points and nine rebounds, and Michael Eley, the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, added 22 points, six assists and five rebounds.
The Bears have a few days off before they head down to Stony Brook to face the Seawolves on December 30 at 6:30 p.m.