POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Staten Island, N.Y. (March 6, 2021)—Fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's leaned on its league-leading defense to down top-seeded Wagner, 66-60, in the Northeast Conference semifinals at Wagner's Spiro Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Mount advances to the NEC Championship game on Tuesday night looking for the school's sixth NEC title.
The Mount will travel to second-seeded Bryant in the Northeast Conference Championship game on Tuesday, March 9. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPN2. This will be the first meeting this year between the two teams as the regular season series was postponed twice due to COVID protocols.
As the tension increased down the stretch, the Mount trailed 57-56 in the final minute with Wagner in possession. The Mountaineers got the stop they needed, a missed three-pointer by Alex Morales with 36 seconds left.
Damian Chong Qui collected the rebound, found
Mezie Offurum streaking to the basket in transition, and Offurum converted the lay-up for a 58-57 lead with 34.3 seconds on the clock.
Wagner's Delonnie Hunt was fouled on the next possession, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with Offurum grabbing the rebound. Offurum was fouled immediately, and he sank both free throws with 15.9 seconds left for a 60-57 advantage.
The Mount (11-10) defense stepped up again with
Nana Opoku deflecting a Wagner pass to force a turnover, and
Malik Jefferson snaring the loose ball. Jefferson was fouled with 6.5 seconds on the clock, and the junior forward calmly sank both shots to extend the Mount lead to 62-57. After Will Martinez hit 1-of-2 at the line for Wagner, Chong Qui made two more free throws for a 64-58 lead. After Wagner's Martinez scored on a lay-up,
Nana Opoku put the exclamation point on the win with a dunk at the buzzer for the six-point victory.
The Mount, which came into the game leading the NEC in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and defensive efficiency, held Wagner to 36.1 percent shooting in the game. The Mountaineers held Morales, the NEC Player of the Year, to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting in the game.
Opoku finished the game with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting while adding five rebounds and three blocks while Chong Qui added 14 points and four assists.
Deandre Thomas chipped in 13 points and three assists off the bench while Jefferson notched his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Offurum finished with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists with Frantisek Barton adding seven points in the win.
Martinez paced Wagner with a game-high 17 points while Elijah Ford added 15 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Morales and Hunt each scored 10 for the Seahawks, who finished the season at 13-7.
The Mount jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in the opening minutes behind a pair of Opoku buckets in the paint and a Jefferson dunk. Wagner rallied with a 10-to-4 run to tie the score at 11-11. Jefferson converted another dunk, this time on a high-low feed from Opoku ahead of a Chong Qui traditional three-point play to put the lead back to five.
Wagner eventually tied the score again, this time at 29-29 after a Ford three-point play, but a
Josh Reaves free throw and a Barton three-pointer from the left corner push the Mount advantage to four. After a Nigel Jackson bucket for Wagner, Barton closed the half with a basket to give the Mount a 35-31 lead at the break.
The Seahawks opened the second half quickly, using a 9-3 run to take a 40-38 advantage early in the second half. The Mount countered, rattling off a 12-to-1 spurt to take its biggest lead of the game at 50-41 midway through the second half. Chong Qui had a tough and-one drive to the basket during the run that was capped by a pair of Offurum free throws with 10:13 left.
Wagner responded with the next eight points to get right back into the game with Martinez sandwiching a pair of three-pointers around a Ford basket to make it a one-point game. The Mount led 56-52 after Opoku made a hook shot from the middle of the lane with 4:20 on the clock, but five straight Wagner points put the Seahawks ahead, 57-56, setting up the finish.
Mount St. Mary's advances to the NEC Championship game for the eighth time in program history and the first since winning the title on its homecourt in 2017. The Mount has won five NEC titles (1995, 1999, 2008, 2014 and 2017) and is 5-2 in the title game. The Mountaineers are now 7-2 all-time in the NEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, and 8-7 all-time in the NEC semifinals. The Mountaineers hold an all-time record of 28-18 in NEC Tournament games, including 10-11 on the road.
Mount St. Mary's shot 47.9 percent (22-of-46) from the field in the game and 19-of-27 (.704) at the foul line. The Mount held a 38-to-32 edge on the boards and won despite committing 13 of its 18 turnovers in the opening half.
