Emmitsburg, Md. (February 12, 2009)--Kelly Beidler (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists to lead Mount St. Mary's past St. Francis (N.Y.) in Northeast Conference action at Knott Arena on Thursday night. The win was the seventh-straight at home and keeps the Mount in second place in the Northeast Conference.

Mount St. Mary's (15-10, 10-4 NEC) opened the second half with a 13-0 run to break open a four-point game. Beidler was a key cog during the run, scoring nine points in the spurt to give the Mount a 42-25 advantage with 16:34 left in the game. He opened the second half with a runner in the lane, buried a three-pointer, hit a pair of free throws and added a fast-break lay-in during the streak.

The Mount pushed the margin to as much as 20 points, 67-47, after a Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) lay-up with 4:03 left in the game. The Terriers (8-16, 6-8 NEC) scored the next 10 points, but it was not enough as the Mount earned the 68-57 victory.

In the first half, the Mount jumped to an 11-4 lead behind seven points from Goode. St. Francis answered with a 10-2 run of its own to grab a 14-13 advantage. Leading 23-22 with 4:33 left in the first half, the Mount scored six straight points for a 29-22 lead and had the ball for the final possession of the half.

The Mount's Goode missed a shot in the lane and the Terriers were able to Jamaal Womack free for a fast-break basket with 0.1 seconds left to make the score 29-24. The Mount bench was assessed a technical foul on the play, and Ricky Cadell made one-of-two at the line to make the score 29-25 at the break.

The Mount shined on the defensive end, holding St. Francis (N.Y.) to 39.2 percent shooting in the game while scoring 25 points off 18 Terrier turnovers.

"That's what we preach, to be a good defensive team so when we don't shoot free throws well or miss shots and don't shoot a high percentage, we are still in a position to make plays and win the basketball game," said Mount St. Mary's head coach Milan Brown.

Beidler finished 6-for-9 from the floor and 6-of-11 at the line in addition to his 19 points to pace the Mount. Goode added 16 points and eight assists while Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) and Shawn Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Womack led the Terriers with 17 points while Cadell added 15 points.

The Mount has now won seven straight games at home, the longest home win streak by the team since a 16-game streak from 1995-96. Mount St. Mary's also clinched a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament with the victory.

Mount St. Mary's heads to Monmouth for a 7:00 p.m. game in West Long Branch, N.J., on Saturday night.

Game Notes...The Mount has won four straight games against St. Francis (N.Y.) to take a 27-23 advantage in the all-time series...Point guard Jeremy Goode is averaging 7.3 assists in six career games against the Terriers...The Mount has won 10 of its past 11 games.