Emmitsburg, Md. (January 10, 2015)--Andrew Smeathers poured in a career-high 22 points to lead Mount St. Mary's past Northeast Conference leader St. Francis Brooklyn, 71-61, on Saturday afternoon at Knott Arena.  Smeathers hit 6-of-7 from three-point range in the victory.

The Mount (6-9, 2-2 NEC) fell behind 8-0 in the opening minute and a half as St. Francis Brooklyn's Jalen Cannon scored five quick points.

Mount St. Mary's countered with a 12-2 run to grab a 12-10 advantage.  Kristijan Krajina started the run with a lay-up in the paint, and Gregory Graves followed with a three-pointer.  After another Cannon basket, Smeathers hit a three-pointer, Taylor Danaher drained a pair of free throws, and Junior Robinson scored on a drive to give the Mount its first lead.

The Terriers (9-8, 3-1 NEC) responded to take a 21-18 lead with 9:02 left in the half after a Brent Jones lay-up.  Mount St. Mary's answered by scoring the next 10 points for a 28-21 lead.  Smeathers scored five in a row to start the spurt with Graves adding a three-pointer and Danaher a dunk on a feed from Khalid Nwandu.

Another Graves three-pointer extended the Mount's advantage to 34-24, but the Terriers scored the next six points to cut the gap to four.  However, Smeathers was fouled taking a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left in the half, and converted 2-of-3 at the line to give the Mount a 36-30 lead at the break.

The Mount scored the first five points of the second half to take its biggest lead, 41-30, with 18:45 left in the game.  St. Francis Brooklyn chipped away at the Mount's lead, cutting the deficit to 47-46 on a Tyreek Jewell three-pointer with 10:40 left.  Will Miller countered with a three-pointer for the Mount, but behind four consecutive points from Jewell, St. Francis cut the Mount lead to 55-54 with 4:49 left.

On the next possession, Smeathers drilled a three-pointer to extend the lead to four.  Khalid Nwandu added a lay-up, and Chris Martin drained a three-pointer from the right wing on a pass from Smeathers with 3:17 left to push the Mount advantage to 63-54.  From there, the Mount was able to hold on for the 71-61 win.

Smeathers finished with 22 points, three rebounds and two assists to lead the Mount offense.  Graves added 11 points and seven rebounds, hitting all three of his three-point attempts.  Martin added 10 points off the bench while the Mount's point guard combination of Robinson (8 pts., 6 ast.) and Nwandu (3 pts., 6 ast.) combined for 11 points and 12 assists.

Cannon finished with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds while Jewell chipped in 14 points in the loss.  Jones added 13 points and five assists for the Terriers.

The Mountaineers shot 50.0 percent (23-of-46) overall while making 12-of-23 (.522) from three-point range in the win.  The Terriers shot 43.6 percent and were just 8-of-15 (.533) at the foul line.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Thursday, January 15, with a 7:00 p.m. game at Fairleigh Dickinson.

Game Notes:  Mount St. Mary's has won four straight against the Terriers, with all four games played at Knott Arena...This was a rematch of last year's NEC Quarterfinal won by the Mount on a Rashad Whack three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left...The Mount trailed by 19 points with 9:15 remaining and by 11 points with 1:53 left in that game.