Bashir Mason, Saint Peters head coach: “I think we’ll get back on track.”
JERSEY CITY — It was only a matter of time before Peacocks forward Corey Washington would get back in the starting lineup after missing five straight games with a shoulder injury. He returned Friday night against Siena, and the Peacock star made a big difference.
In 31 minutes of play at Run Baby Run Arena, Washington scored a career-high 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in the Peacocks’ 75-53 win over the Saints (4-21 overall, 3-11 MAAC). Washington’s return also helped Saint Peters execute a season sweep of Siena and end his team’s four-game losing streak.
“He (Washington) has been in practice for the last few weeks,” said Bashir Mason, Peacocks head coach. “He has been doing extra work after practice, and our coaches got him ready to play.”
Washington sparked the Peacocks (12-11, 8-6) by scoring 20 points in the first half, and 10 of his 20 points in that half came through layups. He shot a 3-pointer and scored 13 of Saint Peter’s first 15 points.
Bashir Mason: It was an incredible defensive performance on (Siena’s) Sean Durugordon. He wanted the matchup to guard Durugordon, and he held him to six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
But soon into the game it looked like Siena, not Saint Peters, would get the W. The Saints sprinted to a 13-4 lead before the Peacocks went on a 9-0 run to tie the game–thanks to Washington’s seven points. Then, the Peacocks went on an 11-3 run after the Saints regained the lead 19-18.
Saint Peters expanded its 36-30 halftime lead to 53-45 and then finished off Siena by going another run, this time 22-8, to finish the game. Key to second-half domination was holding the Saints to 23 points on 30.8 percent shooting, forcing 15 turnovers (scoring 22 points on TOs), and outrebounding the Saints 47-31.
“Happy coach here,” Mason said in the post-game presser. “Happy to get in the win column. Our defense was good. Our rebounding was excellent.”
But perhaps the bigger news is having Washington back for the MAAC stretch run (six games remaining in the regular season) and for the conference tournament, which will be held in Atlantic City on March 12-16.
“We were good when we were in full strength,” Mason said. “I am happy we went through our struggles (because) we did a good job handling it. (Now) we are on the uptick.”
Next up, the Peacocks will head to New Rochelle on Sunday to play the Iona Gaels (13-11, 8-5), a team that’s a half-game ahead of them in the MAAC standings.
