Baltimore, Md. (November 25, 2020)—Mount St. Mary's used a strong defensive effort coupled with key veteran contributions to earn a 62-55 win at Morgan State in the season opener on Wednesday afternoon.  The Mount won its season opener for the first time since 2008 with the victory.

The Mount's quartet of returning starters in Jalen Gibbs, Damian Chong Qui, Malik Jefferson and Nana Opoku combined to score 53 of the Mount's 62 points in the game.  Gibbs led the way with a solid all-around effort with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.  Jefferson added 13 points and seven rebounds while Chong Qui chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.  Despite foul trouble, Opoku tallied nine points and three rebounds in 23 minutes of play.

Newcomers Mezie Offurum, Dakota Leffew, Josh Reaves and Frantisek Barton all made their Mount debut in the game.  Offurum, a transfer from George Washington, finished with seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while earning his first start in a Mount uniform.  Reaves hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with six points and three boards in his Mount debut while Leffew had two points in the game.  Barton grabbed a rebound in six minutes in his first collegiate game as well.

Leading by six at the half, Morgan State's Troy Baxter hit a three-pointer to open the second half to make it a three-point game.  The Mount countered with a Reaves triple and a Jefferson dunk on a feed from Chong Qui to push the advantage back to eight. 

Morgan State rallied to cut the deficit to two, 46-44, on a Malik Miller bucket with 7:28 remaining.  The Mount scored the next seven points, five coming on free throws and the other two on a Chong Qui basket, to push the lead back to nine, 53-44, with 5:45 on the clock.

Morgan State made one last push, cutting the Mount advantage to 53-49 on a pair of Isaiah Burke free throws with 3:54 remaining.  The Mountaineers answered with an 8-0 run that was capped by a Gibbs steal and dunk that put the Mount ahead, 61-49, to secure the win.

The Mount shot 39.6 percent from the field in the game and was 4-of-22 (.182) from three-point range.  The Mountaineers held Morgan State to 40.4 percent shooting and 3-of-18 (.167) from beyond the arc. 

The Mount's athleticism was in full force with seven dunks in the game, led by four from Jefferson.  Opoku had two dunks with Gibbs adding the exclamation point with his dunk in the closing minutes.  The Mount held a 38-to-32 edge on the boards that led to a 14-to-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Miller led Morgan State with 19 points and eight rebounds while Baxter added 17 points and five boards.

After Morgan State scored the first basket of the game, dunks from Opoku and Jefferson put the Mountaineers on top, 4-2.   The Bears responded and used a 6-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 14-7, with just under 11 minutes remaining in the opening half.

From there, the Mount picked it up on the defensive end to spark an 18-to-5 run over the eight minutes to build a 25-19 advantage.  The early part of the run featured seven consecutive Mount points, capped by an Opoku three-pointer at the top of key that banked home.

After a Baxter triple gave the Bears the lead back, Gibbs connected on a traditional three-point play to even the score.  Another Baxter bucket gave Morgan the lead again, but the Mount responded with the next eight points to grab the 25-19 advantage.  Jefferson had a pair of dunks during the 8-0 run.  Reaves connected for his first collegiate basket, a three-pointer, to push the Mount lead to 28-22 at the break.

The Mount shot just 35.5 percent from the field on the opening half, hitting 2-of-12 (.167) from three-point range.  The defense was solid, though, holding Morgan State to 37.0 percent shooting and 18.2 percent from behind the three-point arc.  The Mount also held a 21-to-18 edge on the boards in the opening frame.

It was a balanced scoring effort in the opening half with Opoku, Gibbs and Jefferson tallying seven points each for the Mount.

The Mount is back in action on Saturday, November 28, with a 3:00 p.m. matchup with Navy.  The game will be played at the XFINITY Center in College Park.  Due to health and safety protocols, there will be no fans in attendance at the game.

NOTES:  The Mount's victory was the team's first in a season-opener since an 84-76 win at Loyola on Nov. 14, 2008…The Mountaineers have opened the season on the road in each of the past 21 seasons…The Mount will be looking to open the season with consecutive wins for the first time since the 1993-94 season.