Fairfield, Conn. (January 9, 2010)-Kelly
Beidler (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) posted 16 points and eight
rebounds to help Mount St. Mary's hold off Sacred Heart, 69-65, in
Northeast Conference action at the Pitt Center on Saturday
afternoon. The win snapped the Mount's nine-game losing streak and
was the team's first conference win of the season.
Leading 32-28 at the half, the Mount (4-11, 1-3 NEC) pushed the
margin to 11 points with a 17-to-10 run over the first eight
minutes of the second half. The Mount capped the run with six
straight points, including back-to-back dunks by Beidler and Tayvon
Jackson (Indian Head, Md./Lackey), to make the score 49-38.
The Pioneers (9-6, 2-2 NEC) fought back, however, cutting the
Mount lead to 51-49 on a three-point play from Chauncey Hardy with
9:10 remaining. Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day)
countered with a jumper and Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) hit a
free throw to push the lead back to five.
Sacred Heart was able to cut the deficit back to three points,
65-62, on a tip-in by Corey Hassan with 1:39 remaining. The Mount
missed the front end of a one-and-one foul on the next possession,
but was able to secure the rebound, but missed a shot giving the
Pioneers a chance to tie the game.
Sacred Heart, however, turned the ball over when Goode
intercepted a pass and drove in for a lay-up. Goode missed, but
Will Holland (Houston, Texas/Lamar) followed the miss with a
putback to give the Mount a 67-62 advantage with 34 seconds on the
clock. Hardy drained a three-pointer with 22.1 seconds remaining
to cut the deficit to 67-65, but Beidler sealed the win with a pair
of free throws.
"The last three games have come down to the wire and we came out
on the short end of the stick," said Mount St. Mary's head coach
Milan Brown. "We were able to finish out the game tonight. If you
are going to be a good basketball team, you have to win tight
games. Hopefully this will catapult us into playing even
better."
Beidler hit 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 at the line for his
team-high 16 points. Shawn Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside)
added 15 points (7-10 FG's) while Holland chipped in 12 points and
seven rebounds in the win. Goode finished with 10 points, five
rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Mountaineers. He
now has 527 career assists, just two shy of matching Gregory Harris
(1996-00) for the school record of 529 helpers.
Hardy scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half
for the Pioneers while Hassan added 14 points and nine boards in
the loss. Ryan Litke added 11 points and Liam Potter 11 points and
12 rebounds in the game for Sacred Heart.
Mount St. Mary's shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second
half and 46.7 percent in the game. Sacred Heart converted 40.6
percent of its shot and was 10-of-28 (.357) from three-point
range.
In the first half, the Mount led the entire half, using a 10-3
run to take its biggest lead of the half, 26-18, on a Beidler
three-pointer with 5:34 remaining. From there, the Mount was able
to hold onto a 32-28 lead at the break.
The Mount held Sacred Heart to 39.3 percent shooting in the
first half while holding a 22-17 advantage on the boards.
The Mount returns to action on Thursday, January 14, with a 7:30
p.m. home game against St. Francis (N.Y.) at Knott Arena.
Game Notes...The Mount has won three straight
against Sacred Heart and now holds a 14-7 lead in the all-time
series...Tayvon Jackson had three blocks in the game and now leads
the Mount with 24 this season...The Mount leads the NEC in blocked
shots with 5.2 per game.
