College Park, Md. (November 29, 2020)—After Mount St. Mary's took the lead with just under nine minutes remaining, Maryland scored 21 unanswered points for a 79-61 win on Sunday afternoon at the XFINITY Center.  Jalen Gibbs paced the Mount with 19 points while Malik Jefferson tallied 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.

Jefferson capped a 7-0 run with a bucket in the paint to give the Mountaineers (1-2) a 58-56 lead with 8:57 remaining in the game.  The Terrapins (3-0) responded by outscoring the Mount, 21-0, over the next seven minutes to secure the win.

The Mount, playing on consecutive days after falling in a tight contest to Navy yesterday, went 0-for-10 from the field over Maryland's scoring run.  After the Jefferson basket, Maryland evened the score on a pair of free throws.  Jairus Hamilton followed with a three-pointer, Donta Scott had a dunk on the fast break, and Eric Ayala connected on a three-point basket to give Maryland a 66-58 advantage.  From there, Maryland was able to maintain the momentum to secure the win.

The Mount trailed 41-32 at the half and faced 50-40 deficit five minutes into the second half.  The Mount rallied, using an 18-to-6 run to take a 58-56 advantage.  Damian Chong Qui scored on a driving lay-up and Nana Opoku added a putback dunk to start the rally. After a Scott basket for Maryland, Jefferson scored in the paint and Gibbs connected on all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to make it 52-49.

The Terrapins pushed the lead to 56-51, but Chong Qui scored on a fast-break lay-up after a turnover, and then hit a long three-pointer to even the score at 56-56.  After a stop on the defensive end, Jefferson scored on a hook shot in the paint to give the Mount the two-point lead.

Gibbs hit 5-of-9 from three-point range for his game-high 19 points.  Gibbs, who is averaging a team-high 17.7 points this season, is 9-for-18 from beyond the arc over the past two games.  Jefferson hit 8-of-9 from the field in the game to finish with 18 points and nine boards.  Opoku added 10 points and four rebounds while Cong Qui finished with nine points and seven assists.

Scott led five Maryland players in double figures with 17 points with Ayala finishing with 15.  Hamilton had 13 points, Aaron Wiggins 12 and Darryl Morsell 10 in the game.

The Mount shot 43.1 percent in the game, including 8-of-19 (.421) from three-point range.  Maryland shot 59.6 percent overall and was 7-for-19 (.368) from beyond the arc. 

The Mount (1-2) started the game on fire on the offensive end, hitting 5-of-6 from three-point range to sprint to a 21-12 lead eight minutes into the game.  Gibbs provided most of the fireworks, hitting four three-pointers over that stretch.

The Terrapins whittled away at the Mount lead, but a Chong Qui drive to the bucket put the Mount up 25-20 with nine minutes left in the half.  Maryland countered with an 8-to-1 run to take the lead, 28-26, after back-to-back Hakim Hart three-pointers.

Chong Qui fed Jefferson for a bucket to cut Maryland's lead to 31-30, but the Terrapins closed the half on a 10-to-2 run to grab a 41-32 lead at the break.  Ayala keyed the Maryland run with six points, including a jumper to close out the half.

Gibbs led the Mount with 13 points in the first half while Jefferson added 10 points and four boards.  Chong Qui had seven first-half assists as the Mount shot 13-of-24 (.542) from the field and 5-of-8 (.625) from three-point range.  Ayala led Maryland with 10 first-half points as the Terrapins shot 16-of-26 (.615) from the field.

The Mountaineers return to the court on Saturday, December 5, with a 2:00 p.m. matchup at VCU.