Princess Anne, Md. (November 20, 2013)—Mount St. Mary's rallied several times in the second half, but came up short in a 78-71 loss at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Wednesday night.  Senior Julian Norfleet scored 20 of his team-high 24 points in the second half for the Mountaineers.

The Hawks (2-2) took a 54-47 lead on five consecutive points from Hakeem Baxter.  Norfleet answered by scoring the next seven points in the game, converting a traditional three-point play while adding four free throws.

Baxter, however, scored three consecutive baskets to give UMES a six-point advantage.  The lead was stretched to 65-57 before Sam Prescott hit a three-pointer with 3:18 left to cut the deficit to five.

Will Miller's three-pointer with 1:50 left cut the UMES lead to 67-64, but Louis Bell nailed a corner three-pointer on the next possession to give his team a six-point lead.  Norfleet converted a tough spinning drive to the basket, but Ishaq Pitt answered with a traditional three-point play for a 73-66 advantage with 40 seconds left.

Norfleet's jumper from the top of the key bucket made it 73-68 with 27 seconds left, but UMES was able to hold off the Mount (0-5) rally and earn the victory.

Norfleet led the Mount with 24 points and five assists while Prescott chipped in 17 points in the loss.  Rashad Whack chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Baxter paced UMES with 22 points and seven boards while Troy Sndyer chipped in 13 points and Bell 12 points in the win.

The Mount shot 44.6 percent from the floor in the game while UMES shot 43.1 percent.  The Hawks, however, hit 59.3 percent from the field in the second half while committing just eight turnovers in the game.­­

Both teams struggled on the offensive end in the opening half with UMES taking a 27-22 lead at the half.  The Mount shot 37.0 percent (10-of-27) from the field and 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from three-point range.  UMES outscored the Mount 7-0 at the foul line in the opening half, hitting 7-of-10 free throws while the Mountaineers did not shot a free throw.

UMES scored six unanswered points to take a 22-16 lead with 4:10 left in the half.  It was a 27-20 UMES lead before Norfleet found Krajina wide-open under the basket to cut the Mount deficit to 27-22 at the break.

Krajina led the Mount with six points and four rebounds in the first half while Whack and Prescott chipped in five points each.

Mount St. Mary's is next in action on Saturday, November 23, with the home opener against American.  Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. at Knott Arena.

Game Notes: The Mount won the only other meeting between the two teams, 88-69, on Dec. 27, 1991, at Knott Arena.  Walk-on Liam McManimon made his first career start in the game.  The Mount is now 6-3 all-time against teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.