Box Score North Andover, Mass. (January 17, 2022)—Malik Jefferson matched a season-high with 16 points to lead Mount St. Mary's past Merrimack, 57-50, on Monday afternoon.  It was a balanced scoring effort as nine different players scored in the game for the Mount.

The Mount (6-10, 2-4 NEC) came up with a big defensive effort in the second half to secure the victory, holding Merrimack to 20 points on 34.5 percent shooting, including a 0-for-11 from three-point range.  The Mount held Merrimack scoreless over the final 4:49 of the game to seal the win.

Leading 31-30 at the break, the Mount still held the narrow one-point advantage midway through the second half after Mezie Offurum hit 1-of-2 at the line.  Merrimack countered with the next four points on a Mikey Watkins drive and a Malik Edmead jumper.

Offurum then sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Mount its biggest lead of the game at 53-46.  Offurum started the run with a pair of free throws ahead of a driving lay-up that put the Mount back on top, 47-46.  Jaylin Gibson then drained a three-pointer, his third of the game, for a four-point advantage and Josh Reaves capped the run with a corner triple on a feed from Jefferson that pushed the lead to 53-46 with 5:32 left.

Merrimack did not go away easily, getting back-to-back buckets from Watkins and Edmead to make it 53-50 with 4:49 remaining.  However, the Edmead basket would be the last points of the game for Merrimack as the Mount held the Warriors to 0-for-7 shooting from the field to close out the game.

Nana Opoku scored in the paint with 3:12 on the clock to make it 55-50, and he then went 1-for-2 at the line with 40 seconds left for a six-point lead.  Deandre Thomas hit 1-of-2 at the line with 12.7 seconds left to close out the scoring.

Jefferson matched his season high with 16 points while just missing a double-double with nine rebounds to lead the Mount in the game.  It is the first time Jefferson has scored in double figures since a 13-point effort at Saint Joseph's on November 13.  Gibson hit 3-of-5 from three-point range for nine points while adding four rebounds for the Mount.  The freshman is now shooting 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from beyond the arc this season.

Jalen Benjamin scored eight points while Opoku and Offurum each tallied seven points in the win.  The Mount shot 42.9 percent in the game (21-of-49), including 6-of-14 (.429) from three-point range.  Facing the NEC's top team in forcing turnovers, the Mount committed just 10 miscues in the game and held a 13-to-6 advantage in points off turnovers in the game.
Minor led four Merrimack (8-10, 4-2 NEC) players in double figures with 15 points.  Edmead added 12 points and nine boards with Ziggy Reid chipping in a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Watkins also reached double figures with 11 points.

Merrimack got off to a strong start in taking an 11-2 lead at the first media timeout.  Reid had four points during the run that was capped by a Watkins three-pointer.  Benjamin drained a pair of deep three-pointers to help the Mount cut the deficit to 13-8, but Merrimack scored the next four points to re-establish the nine-point advantage.

The Warriors continued to maintain the advantage, taking a 25-16 lead on a Minor basket with just over six minutes remaining in the half.  The Mount responded by scoring the next 13 points to grab the lead.  After a Frantisek Barton hit the first of two free throws, Jefferson snared the rebound on a miss on the second shot and followed with a putback to make it a six-point game.  Gibson drained a three-pointer ahead of a pair of Jefferson free throws that made it 25-24, and Gibson nailed his second three of the half to put the Mount on top by two.  Jefferson closed out the run with a basket to give the Mount the 29-25 lead.
From there, a Jefferson basket was surrounded by five Minor free throws, the last pair coming with one second left in the half to trim the Mount's lead to 31-30 at the break.

Jefferson led the Mount with 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the opening half while Gibson and Benjamin each had six on a pair of three-pointers.  Minor led Merrimack with 11 points in the half.  The Mount was 12-of-27 (.444) from the field and 4-of-7 (.571) from three-point range in the opening half while Merrimack shot 10-of-20 (.500) overall and 1-of-4 (.250) from three-point range.

With the win, the Mount finished with a 2-2 record on its four-game road trip and now heads home for five of its next six games beginning by hosting Sacred Heart on Friday, January 21, at 7 p.m. at Knott Arena.