Mount St. Mary's outlasted Long Island, 78-76, in four
overtimes, matching the longest game in school history on Thursday
night at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Freshman Kelly
Beidler scored nine of his 15 points in the overtime periods as the
Mount snapped a four-game losing streak. The Mount is now 3-10
overall and 2-0 in the Northeast Conference.
Freshman Will Holland opened the fourth overtime with a
three-point basket, his only basket of the game, to stake the Mount
to a 75-72 lead. Beidler and Jeremy Goode each added a free throw
to give the Mount a 77-72 edge with 3:12 left in the fourth
overtime. Long Island (5-8, 1-1 NEC) responded with four straight
points to cut the Mount lead to 77-76. On the next possession,
Goode again hit 1-of-2 free throws with 22.3 seconds left for a
78-76 lead.
Long Island's Eugene Kotorobai then missed a three-point attempt
from the corner and the Mount's Guyvans Richard was fouled with 3.8
seconds on the clock. Richard missed both free throws and the
Blackbirds corralled the rebound and got the ball to Jaytornah
Wisseh, who got off a a three-point attempt that rattled out,
giving the Mount the victory.
The Mount held a 53-44 lead with 11:03 left in the second half
before a 15-2 run by the Blackbirds gave Long Island a 59-55
advantage. Beidler scored on a baseline dunk off a feed from Goode
with 1:03 left. After an LIU miss, senior Mychal Kearse's driving
lay-up with 34.8 seconds left to force overtime.
Kearse hit two free throws with 59 seconds left in the first
overtime to force a second extra session. Beidler's lay-up on a
lob pass from Goode with 36 seconds left in the third overtime
forced the fourth OT.
"It was a really gutsy win for us," said Mount St. Mary's head
coach Milan Brown. I thought a lot of guys stepped up, especially
with the foul trouble we were in. We got big efforts from everyone
and it was a great team win."
Junior Chris Vann scored 21 of his team-high 23 points in the
first half to pace the Mount offense. Beidler added 15 pionts and
seven rebounds while Kearse chipped in 14 points and six boards.
Goode added 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
James Williams paced Long Island with 24 points while Aubin
Scott chipped in 14. Kotorobai added nine points and a game-high
16 rebounds for the Blackbirds.
The Mount defeated Albright, 67-64, in four overtimes on March
9, 1962, in the NCAA East Regional on the way to the NCAA Division
II National Championship.
The Mount completes its six-game road trip at Monmouth with a
7:00 pm game on Saturday night.
Games Notes: The win was the Mount's first
road win of the season after opening the year with eight straight
losses on the road...The last Mount game to go triple overtime was
a 90-82 loss to Central Connecticut State on Feb. 2, 2004.
