Philadelphia, Pa. (December 23, 2008)—La Salle used a 16-6 run to close the game to earn a 65-59 victory over Mount St. Mary's in non-conference action at Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday night. Kelly Beidler (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) paced the Mount with his third double-double of the season. The Mount has dropped six straight games to fall to 3-8 on the season.

Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) hit a three-pointer with 8:22 left to give the Mount a 53-49 advantage. La Salle (6-5), however, answered with an 11-0 run to take a 60-53 lead with just under four minutes left.

Rodney Green hit a three-pointer to snap a 53-53 tie with 6:01 left and followed with an acrobatic lay-up at the 5:17 mark that pushed La Salle's lead to five. On that play, Green was able to convert his shot despite falling to the ground as he slipped.

Trailing by eight with under a minute left, Beidler converted a lay-up to make the score 63-57 with 54 seconds on the clock. The Mount forced a turnover by Green on the next possession, but the Mount's Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) turned the ball over for the Mount. La Salle was able to then hold on for the victory.

Beidler finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the game to pace the Mount while Goode and Cajou each added 11 points in the loss. Shawn Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Mountaineers.

Green led La Salled with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while Kimmani Barrett added 15 points.

The Explorers held a commanding 45-to-30 edge on the boards, converting 22 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points. La Salle shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the second half after being held to 28.9 percent shooting in the opening stanza. The Mount shot 37.9 percent in the second half after converting 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half.

"Rebounding was a huge concern for us coming into the game," said Mount St. Mary's head coach Milan Brown. "We knew we were going to have to gang rebound because they are really good on the offensive glass. They had a couple of offensive rebounds in the second half that broke our back."

The Mount closed the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 32-26 lead at the break. Jean Cajou started the run with a traditional three-point play on the fast break with 5:36 left in the half. Goode's bucket at the 2:19 mark gave the Mount a 26-24 advantage while Cajou followed with a three-pointer from the right corner for a 29-24 lead. After a Paul Johnson basket for the Explorers, Goode added a traditional three-point play with 7.3 seconds left to send the Mount to the locker room up by six points.

The Mount returns to action on Monday, December 29, when future NEC member Bryant visits Knott Arena for a 7:00 p.m. match.

Game Notes...La Salle holds a 12-6 advantage in the all-time series...This was the sixth straight season the two teams have met with La Salle winning each time...It was the seventh time this season the Mount has led at the half with the Mountaineers holding a 2-5 record in those contests...