Emmitsburg, Md. (March 1, 2008)--Freshman Jean Cajou scored a career high 27 points to lead Mount St. Mary's to an 81-67 win over Monmouth on Saturday night at Knott Arena. The Mount's win coupled with Wagner's 77-68 victory over Quinnipiac allowed the Mount to earn the fourth seed and a home game in the Northeast Conference Tournament. The Mount will face Quinnipiac in the opening round.

Leading 62-57 with 6:51 left in the game, Cajou scored 16 of the Mount's final 19 points to lead the Mountaineers to the victory. The 6-3 freshman started the streak with a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 65-57 with 6:21 on the clock. He added back-to-back buckets for a personal 7-0 run to give the Mount a 12-point advantage with 5:12 left. Cajou finished the game 9-for-11 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range and 6-of-6 at the line for his 27 points.

Monmouth's only lead of the game was on James Hett's lay-up 32 seconds into the game. The Mount's Chris Vann drained a three-pointer eight seconds later and Mount St. Mary's never trailed again. The Mount pushed the margin to 10-4 after a Sam Atupem lay-up and 20-11 with 10:06 left in the half on a Markus Mitchell basket. The Hawks were able to cut the margin to 35-34 on an R.J. Rutledge three-pointer with 2:33 left in the half, but Sam Atupem's basket in the paint gave the Mount a 37-34 advantage at the break.

The Mount opened the second half with a 7-1 run, capped by a Shawn Atupem basket, for a 44-35 advantage. The Mount held a five-to-nine point lead for the majority of the second half before Cajou sealed the victory with his late-game surge.

In addition to Cajou, brothers Sam and Shawn Atupem also reached double figures for the Mount. Older brother Sam, a junior, posted 15 points, while Shawn, a freshman, chipped in 10. Senior guard Chris Vann had nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds in his final regular season game at Knott Arena.

Yaniv Simpson and Whitney Coleman each scored 18 points in the game to pace Monmouth (7-23, 4-14 NEC) while Alex Nunner added 10.

The Mount finished the regular season with a 15-14 record, the first winning regular season by a Mount team since the 1996-97 team finished the year 14-13. The 15 wins are the most by a Mount team since the 1998-99 NCAA team finished with a 15-15 record.

Monmouth snuck into the NEC Tournament as well by virtue of Fairleigh Dickinson defeating Saint Francis (Pa.) tonight.

The Mount will host #5 seed Quinnipiac on Thursday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. at Knott Arena. Individual game tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, March 4, at 10:00 a.m. at the Mount St. Mary's Ticket Office.

Game Notes...Cajou is averaging 11.6 points over the past nine games, hitting 36-of-50 (.720) from the field and 15-of-23 (.652) from three-point range in that stretch...The Mount received a season-high 54 points from its bench in the game...Over the past 10 games, the Mount bench is averaging 27.5 points per game...The Mount has finished fourth in the NEC in each of the past three seasons...The Mount shot 55.6 percent from the field in the game, the third straight game the Mount has hit the 50-percent mark...Senior Jason Loughry started for the Mount, posting two points and two assists in 10 minutes of action.