Emmitsburg, Md. (February 29, 2020)--Mount St. Mary's dropped its final game of the regular season, 83-77, at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon.  Damain Chong Qui led the Mount with 18 points while Brandon Leftwich chipped in a career-high 16 points while making his first collegiate start.  The Mount falls to 11-20 overall and 7-11 in the Northeast Conference.  The Mountaineers earned the No. 6 seed in the NEC Tournament and will travel to No. 3 seed Sacred Heart for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on Wednesday, March 4.

Leftwich hit 6-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range en route to his career-best 16 point effort.  He added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the game.  Chong Qui finished with 18 points and four assists to lead the Mount while Nana Opoku and Malik Jefferson added 10 points each in the loss.  Xzavier Malone-Key and Jahlil Jenkins combined for 47 points to leads FDU (11-18, 9-9 NEC) to the win.  Malone-Key led the way with 24 points, going 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range.  Jenkins added 23 points, five assists and four rebounds in the victory for the Knights, who earned the No. 5 seed in the NEC Tournament with the victory.

Trailing 37-27 at the half, the Mount was able to cut the deficit to six on a pair of occasions in the second half.  Opoku hit a pair of free throws to make it 51-45, and the Mount had three chances to cut into the deficit, but missed on all three three-point attempts.  Leftwich scored on a fast break after a Malone-Key drive to make it 53-47, but FDU scored the next five points to push the lead back to double figures.  Omar Habwe hit a three-pointer to cut the gap to 61-54, and after a stop on the defensive end, had another three-point attempt to cut into the deficit, but was unable to hit the jumper.  After a Leftwich block, Jefferson scored on a putback to make it 61-56 with 7:01 remainiing, but Elyjah Williams connected on consecutive buckets to spark a 7-0 run that gave the Knights a 12-point lead again.  From there, FDU was able to hold off the Mount to secure the victory.

The Mount earned the No. 6 seed in the NEC Tournament and will face No. 3 Sacred Heart.  The Pioneers defeated the Mount, 58-53, in Fairfield, Conn., January 30, in the lone meeting between the two teams this year.  The Mount is 3-0 all-time against the Pioneers in the NEC Tournament.  The Mount went on the road in 2008 to knock off Sacred Heart, 68-55, in the NEC Championship game.  The following season, the Mountaineers eclipped the Pioneers, 68-63, in the NEC Semifinals at Knott Arena to advance to the title game.  The third meeting came in the 2017 NEC Tournament Quarterfinals when the top-seeded Mountaineers avoided the upset with a narrow 76-73 win over the eighth-seeded Pioneers at Knott Arena.