HACKENSACK, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) - Down 34 points with 9:16 left to play, Saturday's contest for Mount St. Mary's looked bleak against Fairleigh Dickinson. But the Mountaineers put together a tenacious comeback, rallying to come within eight points in the final minute before falling, 85-75. 

Jalen Gibbs matched a career-high with 27, while Brandon Leftwich eclipsed his career best with 11 points. Damian Chong Qui was instrumental in the comeback, shooting 10-of-13 from the charity stripe on the way to his second straight 16 point showing. The sophomore also led in rebounds with six, and tied Omar Habwe with three assists. 

Devon Dunn led FDU with 20 points, and Elyjah Williams pulled in a game-high 13 rebounds. 

It took Mount (9-13, 5-4 NEC) five minutes to get on the board, when Gibbs earned a layup. By then the Knights (6-15, 4-6 NEC) had stormed out to a 10-0 run. FDU continued to pound away, scoring 20 points to the Mountaineers' six. At one point the Mount went six minutes without a field goal. Nana Opoku got a tip-in with 4:40 remaining in the half, one of just six buckets the team would score. The Knights never relented, shooting 60 percent for the half and amassing a 20 point lead before the last media of the half. 

Equally rough for the Mountaineers was the start of the second half. Dunn for FDU and Gibbs for Mount matched each other, but the Knights continued to fire on all cylinders. A two-pointer by Kaleb Bishop gave the New Jerseyites a 67-33 advantage at the 9:16 mark. 

Mount's comeback effort began here with a layup by Malik Jefferson seconds later. From there, the trio of Gibbs, Leftwich and Chong Qui took control, registering 36 of the 40 points down the stretch. Over the next three minutes, the deficit was trimmed slightly and the Mountaineers still trailed by 26 with 6:16 remaining. 

FDU went on to fail to punch home a field goal for six minutes, allowing the Mount to go on a 15-1 run. Gibbs nailed a pair of back-to-back triples to pull his team within 12 points. With some little time let, Mount had to resort to fouling to extend the game. Leftwich fired up the squad with a dunk and following a couple misses from the Knights, Chong Qui hit a three to close the gap to eight. But that was as close as the Mountaineers would get, as time ran out and the Knights hit their foul shots in the closing seconds. 

The Mountaineers continue their road swing with Long Island Thursday (Feb. 6) and St. Francis Brooklyn next Saturday (Feb. 8).