Hackensack, N.J. (March 5, 2016)—Mount St. Mary's fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-75, in a back-and-forth game in the Northeast Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Stratis Arena.  Junior Robinson (Mebane, N.C.) scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Mount in the game.

Trailing 63-60 with 6:39 left in the game, the Mount scored the next five points to take the lead.  Gregory Graves (Sterling, Va.) hit 1-of-2 at the line, Elijah Long (Mississauga, Ont.) added a pair of free throws, and BK Ashe (Washington, D.C.) also hit a pair of charity tosses to give the Mount a 65-63 advantage with 4:53 on the clock.

The Knights (17-14) responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead.  Earl Potts, Jr., nailed a three-pointer to put FDU ahead, 66-65.  Mike Holloway hit two free throws, and Darnell Edge banked in a three-pointer from the left wing to give FDU a 71-65 lead with 3:33 left.

Ashe countered with two free throws, and Graves scored on a lay-up to cut the deficit to 71-69.  FDU's Darian Anderson hit a tough pull-up jumper on the next possession, but the Mount's Robinson was then fouled, and he went 2-for-2 at the line to make it 73-71 with 1:25 on the clock.

Potts, Jr., then made the biggest shot of the game, connecting on a long three-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession to stretch FDU's advantage to 76-71.  The Mount was able to cut the margin to 78-75 after a Robinson lay-up, and then forced a turnover on the inbounds.  The Mount was fouled on the play, but was unable to convert either free throw attempt, and FDU's Potts, Jr., sealed the win with two free throws with 5.0 seconds left.

Robinson led the Mount (14-19) with 21 points while Chris Wray (Shelby, N.C.) added 12 points.  Graves and Charles Glover (Bowie, Md.) added 10 points each as the Mount had four double-figure scorers in the game.

Potts, Jr., led FDU with 20 points and nine rebounds with Holloway adding 19 points and 17 boards.

The first half featured plenty of scoring runs and a lot of outside shooting.  The Mount got off to the early lead, 9-5, after an Elijah Long three-pointer.  The Knights answered with a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.

The Mount answered with a 9-2 run of its own, taking an 18-16 lead when Graves converted a traditional three-point play.  After FDU tied the game, the Mount went on a 14-to-3 spurt to take a 32-21 lead.  Will Miller (Dallas, Texas) and Robinson started the run with back-to-back three-pointers.  Stephan Jiggetts hit a three for FDU, but Ashe scored on a tough baseline jumper, Wray converted a traditional three-point play, and Glover nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Mount a 32-21 lead with 9:30 left in the half.

Another Glover corner three-pointer gave the Mount its biggest lead of the half, 35-23.  The Knights responded, scoring 12 unanswered points to take a 39-37 advantage.  Taylor Danaher (Fredericksburg, Va.) closed the half with a pair of free throws to tie the game at 39-39 at the break.

The Mount was 7-of-12 from three-point range in the opening half, including 7-of-11 in the first 9:30.  FDU shot 54.8 percent from the field in the first half while forcing nine Mount turnovers.