Teaneck, N.J. (February 14, 2008)—Chris Vann scored 20 points and Shawn Atupem a career high 17 points to lead Mount St. Mary's past Fairleigh Dickinson, 78-61, in Northeast Conference action at Stratis Arena on Thursday night. The win improves the Mount's record to 12-13 overall and 8-6 in the NEC.

After Fairleigh Dickinson scored the first four points of the second half to cut the Mount's lead to 38-27, the Mountaineers rattled off a 15-to-4 run to take a commanding 53-31 lead with 14:36 left. The Mount extended the margin to as many as 31 points (72-41) en route to the victory.

The win snaps a six-game losing streak for the Mount at FDU's Stratis Arena. It also give the Mount a 5-2 record in NEC road games this season.

Vann hit 6-of-8 from three-point range en route to his team-high 20 points while Atupem was 7-of-11 from the field for his career best 17 points. Jean Cajou added nine points on 4-of-4 shooting while Sam Atupem tallied eight points and six boards in the victory. Sophomore Kelly Beidler added six points and a career high 12 rebounds off the bench for the Mount. Manny Ubilla paced the Knights (7-16, 3-10 NEC) with 20 points and five steals.

The Mount shot 50.0 percent from the field in the game and held a 50-28 advantage on the boards. Fairleigh Dickinson was held to 34.4 percent shooting in the contest.

Shawn Atupem keyed a 12-0 first-half run that gave the Mount a 10-point advantage. Trailing 12-10 after a Fairleigh Dickinson's Sean Baptiste converted a traditional three-point play, Kelly Beidler evened the score for the Mount. Atupem scored the next 10 points of the game to give the Mount a 22-12 lead with 8:54 left in the half.

The Mount then closed the half with a 10-4 run to take a 38-23 lead at the break. After hitting 6-of-17 from the field to start the game, the Mount hit 10 of its final 14 shots of the half. The Mount shot 51 percent from the field in the half while holding the Knights to 28 percent shooting (9-of-32) overall and 1-of-10 (.100) from three-point range. The Mount bench scored 24 of the team's 38 first-half points.l

The Mount returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 16, when Quinnipiac visits Knott Arena for a 7:00 p.m. tilt on campus.

Game Notes: Fairleigh Dickinson is 14-3 all-time against the Mount in NEC regular season matchups at home...The Knights lead the all-time series, 24-15...Chris Vann became the 46^th player in Mount history to score 900 career points...The senior now has 915 points in 90 career games in a Mount uniform.