Loretto, Pa. (February 25, 2021)--Mount St. Mary's rallied from a seven-point deficit with a minute remaining to force overtime, and then completed  the comeback in the extra session for a critical 72-65 win at Saint Francis U on Thursday night.  The win moves the Mountaineers into third place in the Northeast Conference standings.

Damian Chong Qui provided the heroics at the end of regulation, draining a long three-pointer with 5.3 seconds remaining to tie the score at 63-63.  The Red Flash missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

Things looked dire for the Mountaineers when Mezie Offurum's jumper with a minute remaining was off the mark, and SFU had the ball with a 59-52 lead.
Chong Qui started the comeback, getting a steal and an easy lay-up to make it a five-point game with 46 seconds on the clock.  The Mount fouled Josh Cohen, who hit 1-of-2 at the line to make it 60-54.  The Mount answered quickly with Chong Qui getting in the lane and finding Deandre Thomas in the corner.  Thomas drained the triple to cut SFU's lead in half.  SFU's Bryce Laskey missed a pair of free throws, but Chong Qui was off the mark on a three-point attempt, and the Mount had to foul Myles Thompson, who hit the first, but missed the second free throw to make it 61-57 with 21.9 seconds remaining.

Chong Qui collected the miss on the Thompson free throw, raced down court, and converted a driving lay-up while being fouled on the play.  He completed the three-point play to make it 61-60 with 16.1 second remaining.

The Mount fouled Ronell Giles, Jr., who hit both free throws to restore the lead to three points, setting up Chong Qui's game-tying three.  On the play, Chong Qui raced down court, pulled up from several feet behind the three-point line, and swished the shot to even the score.  SFU's Zahree Harrison missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

In the extra session, Malik Jefferson and Offurum had putback baskets to give the Mount a 67-63 lead.  Chong Qui then set up Jefferson for a lay-up with 2:14 remaining in overtime to stretch the advantage to six.  After SFU's Mark Flagg scored to cut the deficit to four, Offurum hit a high-arching floater as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to six and effectively seal the win.  Jefferson and Offurum each scored four points in the overtime period.

The Mount (10-10, 9-7 NEC) had five players score in double figures in a balanced scoring offense.  Chong Qui finished with 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds to lead the way while Thomas added 16 points and seven rebounds while connecting on 4-of-6 from three-point range.  Jefferson finished with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds with Josh Reaves scoring 11 of his 13 points in the second half.  Nana Opoku was the fifth Mountaineer in double figures with 10 points.  Offurum had seven points, five rebounds and three steals in the win.

Giles, Jr. led SFU (6-16, 5-13 NEC) with 14 points with Marlon Hargis (12), Cohen (11) and Flagg (10) also reaching double figures.

The Mount held Saint Francis to 8-of-28 (.286) shooting in the second half and the overtime period to rally from a 10-point halftime deficit.  Overall, SFU shot 40.4 percent from the field and 3-of-18 (.167) from three-point range.  The Mount shot 42.6 percent in the game and was 9-of-21 (.429) from beyond the arc. 

Trailing 35-25 at the break, Reaves scored 11 points during a 15-to-3 run to take a 40-38 lead.  The Mount led 41-40 before the Red Flash went on an 8-0 run to build a 48-41 advantage.  The Red Flash stretched the lead to 55-45 with five minutes left in regulation before the Mount rallied down the stretch.
It was a tough first half for the Mount as they shot just 7-of-22 (.318) from the field while committing 10 turnovers.  Saint Francis took advantage of the miscues, outscoring the Mount 15-to-3 in points off turnovers.

Thomas got the Mount off to a hot start, hitting three three-pointers for an early 14-to-9 advantage.  SFU scored the next six points to take the lead, 15-14.  With the score tied at 17-17, Saint Francis went on a 12-to-2 run to take a double-digit lead that they maintained for a 35-25 margin at the break.

The win moved the Mount into third place in the NEC with a 9-7 record.  Wagner leads the league at 11-4, followed by Bryant at 9-4.  The Mount is in third place with a 9-7 mark with Merrimack (8-7), Sacred Heart (8-7), LIU (9-8), St. Francis Brooklyn (9-8) and Fairleigh Dickinson (8-9) in hot pursuit.  The top four teams in the standings advance to the NEC Tournament this season.  Merrimack is still reclassifying to NCAA Division I and is not eligible for postseason play.

The Mountaineers close out the regular season with a pair of games at Bryant on March 2-3.  Tip-off for both games is set for 4:00 p.m.