ADRIAN, Mich. — Austin Branagan's 6-of-9 shooting led the Maple Leaf men's basketball team on Tuesday in a 78-71 loss to Siena Heights University in Michigan.

Branagan scored a career-high 16 points in 18 minutes for Goshen College (1-3), connecting on 4 of 6 three-point attempts while adding 3 rebounds and a block. Demarkus Stuckey paced the Maple Leafs with 21 points including a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line.

Siena Heights (2-2) used an early 7-0 run to hold the lead for much of the first half, but Goshen kept the margin within two scores for 19 of the first 20 minutes. That laid the groundwork for a late Maple Leaf run to take the advantage into the locker room, with GC pulling ahead on a Branagan triple with 2:02 to play.

Kevin Smith II responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Saints back in front before Goshen scored on the last three possessions of the first half. Brandon Watkins knocked down two free throws at the 1:05 mark before Branagan sank a 2-point jumper and a 3-pointer on the next two trips.

The Maple Leafs led 36-32 at the break behind 14-of-30 (46.7 percent) shooting, with Branagan hitting all four of his shots in the last 3 minutes for a team-high 10 points. GC's defense held the hosts to 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from the floor and forced 11 turnovers, but the Saints finished the half with a 10-3 advantage in made free throws.

Stuckey scored Goshen's first five points after halftime and Colton Noel added four points in 19 seconds to maintain a 7-point lead four minutes into the second stanza.

The Saints were able to keep pace, though, as Keith Jordan Jr. scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half: at the 12-minute mark, the Maple Leaf lead had been whittled to 58-54.

Defense ruled the roost in the middle of the half as each offense had a stretch of at least four minutes without a field goal. Demarco Dickerson snapped SHU's cold spell with a dunk at the 6:33 mark, and by the time he scored again the Saints led 70-63 with 3 minutes to go.

Tamaje Blackwell immediately countered with a pair of foul shots to bring Goshen back within 5 points, and Stuckey trimmed the hole back to a single score three times over the following 90 seconds. On both of the first two occasions, Siena Heights responded with points on the ensuing offensive possession.

Goshen got the stop it needed with 35 seconds remaining, when a missed 3-pointer gave the Maple Leafs a chance for a defensive rebound trailing 74-71. The scramble for the loose ball ended in a GC foul, however, and the Saints went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to close out their win.

Jordan also led all players with 11 rebounds; PJ Austin scored 12 points for SHU while Dickerson and Smith added 12 each. Stuckey and Alhassan Barrie added 6 rebounds each for Goshen and Stuckey posted a game-high 6 assists.

Notable Numbers:

.938: Goshen shot a season-best 15-of-16 on free throws, the team's best percentage since shooting .950 against Marian in the final game of the 2015-16 regular season. Last season's high-water mark was 90 percent (18-of-20) on Feb. 13 vs. Spring Arbor. The two teams also combined to go 31-for-33 (93.9 percent) in the second half.

78: The Maple Leaf defense posted its fourth-best showing on the scoreboard in head coach Jon Tropf's two-year tenure, counting only games against NAIA or NCAA opposition. On a per-possession basis, Tuesday night also marked GC's best showing of the season as the Saints were limited to 1.03 points per possession.

Up Next: Friday, Nov. 9 — Goshen at Shawnee State, 7:30 p.m.