Emmitsburg,
Md. (January 15, 2009)--Will Holland (Houston,
Texas/Lamar) scored a
team-high 16 points off the bench to lead Mount St. Mary's to an
80-54 win over Long Island at Knott Arena on Thursday night. The
Mount (8-9, 3-3 NEC) had five players score in double figures while
stretching its winning streak to three games.
The Mount
closed the first half on a 14-2 run to take control of the game
with a 33-23 lead at the half. Shawn Atupem (Newport News,
Va./Woodside) sandwiched a pair of buckets in the
paint around a Holland three-pointer to give the Mount a 26-21
advantage. Holland added a jumper in the paint before a Lucas
Faggiano lay-up made the score 28-23. Jeremy Goode (Charlotte,
N.C./Providence Day) nailed a three-pointer for the
Mount and Kelly Beidler (Virginia Beach,
Va./Tallwood) added a put-back on a fast break to
make the score 33-23 at the break.
The Blackbirds
(8-8, 4-2 NEC) cut the Mount's lead to 35-27 early in the second
half, but a 38-11 run by the Mountaineers made the score 73-38 with
5:34 left to put the game away. Mount St. Mary's shot 68.0 percent
from the floor to outscored Long Island, 47-31, in the second
half.
Holland
finished 6-of-9 from the floor and added four rebounds and two
steals to his game-high 16 points for Mount St. Mary's. Goode and
Beidler each chipped in 13 points and six rebounds while Goode
dished out a team-best five assists. Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul
VI) added 12 points and Shawn Atupem 10 in the
victory. It was the first time since Jan. 31 last year that the
Mount had five players score in double figures in the same
game.
Julian Boyd
paced Long Island with 12 points and five rebounds while Michael
Culpo added 11 points in the loss.
Mount St.
Mary's host Sacred Heart at 2:00 p.m. at Knott Arena on Saturday in
a rematch of last year's NEC Championship game. The Pioneers
defeated the Mount, 80-75, on December 4 this season.
Game
Notes...Mount St.
Mary's has won six straight games against Long Island to take a
21-20 lead in the all-time series...Sam Atupem (Newport News,
Va./Woodside) had nine points in the win as the
Mount just missed having six players score in double figures for
the first time since the 1999-2000 season...Mount St. Mary's is now
shooting 43.4 percent from three-point range in NEC games after
going 7-for-14 from beyond the arc tonight...Freshman walk-on
Mike Harvey
(East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) scored his
first collegiate basket for the Mount in the victory.
