Emmitsburg, Md. (November 23, 2013)--Kristijan Krajina scored the key basket with just over a minute remaining as Mount St. Mary's posted a 68-64 win over visiting American at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon.  Rashad Whack paced three Mount players in double figures with 17 points.

Leading 60-59, Krajina converted a right-hand hook shot with 1:11 left in the game to give the Mountaineers a three-point advantage.  After a stop on the defensive end, Whack was fouled with 34 seconds on the clock, and he calmly sank both free throws to push the advantage to 64-59.

After a pair of free throws from American's Darius Gardner, the Mount's Taylor Danaher converted 4-of-6 at the line over the final 26 seconds to preserve the victory.

The Mount's trio of senior guards (Whack, Sam Prescott and Julian Norfleet) combined to score 47 points while grabbing 14 rebounds in the win.  Whack finished with a team-high 17 points, hitting 5-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 at the line. Prescott added 15 points and a season-high nine rebounds while Norfleet chipped in 15 points, four steals and three assists for the Mountaineers.

Jesse Reed scored a game-high 21 points for the Eagles (1-3) while John Schoof added 13 points in the loss.

The Mount used its trademark pressing defense to push to an early 23-9 advantage in the first half.  Mount St. Mary's (1-5) scored 17 points off 11 American turnovers in the opening 12 minutes of the game to grab the 14-point lead.

American, however, turned the ball over just one time the rest of the half and was able to whittle the Mountaineer lead to 33-27 at the half.

Leading 43-42 with just over 12 minutes remaining, the Mount went on a 7-2 run that was capped by a Byron Ashe three-pointer with 9:42 left.  Ashe was fouled on the play, but was unable to convert the free throw for the four-point play.

American responded with an 11-to-4 run to take a one-point lead with 5:22 left in the game.  It was the first lead of the game for the Eagles since holding a 3-2 advantage in the first two minutes.

The lead went back-and-forth over the next three minutes with the Mount grabbing a 60-59 advantage on a pair of Prescott free throws with 1:47 on the clock.  After forcing a turnover, the Mount's Krajina converted his clutch hook shot to push the lead to 62-59.

Mount St. Mary's shot 38.5 percent overall and was just 6-of-26 (.231) from three-point range in the game.  American shot 54.2 percent from the field and was 6-of-15 (.400) from three-point range in the game.  The Mount countered the difference in field goal percentage  by hitting 22-of-32 (.688) at the foul line, holding a 32-28 edge on the boards, and committing just six turnovers in the game.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Tuesday, November 26, when Bucknell visits Knott Arena at 7:00 p.m.

Game Notes:  The Mount is 11-2 at home under head coach Jamion Christian, and is 45-21 over the past 66 home games...Mount St. Mary's has won five of its past six home openers...American now holds a 32-30 lead in the all-time series.