Emmitsburg, Md. (February 11, 2011)—Damian Chong Qui scored the final seven points of the game to lead Mount St. Mary's to a 66-60 win over visiting Long Island at Knott Arena on Thursday night.  The Mountaineers closed the game with a 26-to-11 run to improve to 7-7 overall and 6-4 in the Northeast Conference.
 
The game became a back-and-forth affair late as Mezie Offurum's driving lay-up with 5:49 remaining gave the Mount a 54-53 lead.  There were six more lead changes over the next four minutes with Chong Qui nailing a pull-up jumper to put the Mountaineers on top, 61-60, with 1:29 on the clock.
 
LIU's Eral Penn missed a three-pointer on the next possession, giving the Mount the ball with the lead.  Chong Qui then came through the biggest shot of the game, draining a three-pointer from the left wing right in front of the Mount bench to put his team ahead, 64-60.  The Mountaineers got another stp on the defensive end, and Chong Qui was fouled with 34 seconds on the clock.  He calmly sank both free throws to provide the winning margin.
 
Chong Qui finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, hitting all eight of his free throw attempts in the game.  Nana Opoku and Malik Jefferson each added double-doubles for the Mount in the victory.  Opoku scored all 14 of his points in the second half while securing 11 rebounds in the game for his second double-double over his past three games.  Jefferson added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 10^th career double-double.  Offurum added nine points with Josh Reaves finishing with eight in the win.
 
Jermaine Jackson, Jr., led all scorers in the game with 19 points for the Sharks (7-6, 7-6 NEC).  Ty Flowers (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Eral Penn (10 points, 12 rebounds) added double-doubles for LIU while Virshon Cotton finished with 13 points.
 
The Mount, the top defensive team in the NEC, held LIU to 32.4 percent shooting in the game and a season-low 60 points.  Mount St. Mary's shot 45.5 percent in the contest, including 55.2 percent (16-of-29) in the second half.
 
Leading 32-30 at the half, the Sharks extended their lead to 49-40 on a Jackson, Jr., four-point play with 13:25 remaining in the game.  From there, the Mount outscored the Sharks, 26-to-11, the rest of the way to surge to the win.
 
In the opening half, LIU jumped out to a 21-12 advantage midway through the opening stanza.  The Mount rallied to tie the score at 23-23 on a pair of Chong Qui free throws.  Jackson, Jr., scored five consecutive points to put LIU ahead, 32-27, before the Mount cut the deficit to two at the half.
 
The Mountaineers have won eight of their past nine matchups with LIU at Knott Arena.  Overall, the Mount has won 10 of 14 against the Sharks to even the all-time series at 33 wins each.
 
The two teams complete the two-game series with a rematch tomorrow with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off at Knott Arena.