Emmitsburg, Md. (January 21, 2022)--Mount St. Mary's had its offense in high gear in a 98-59 rout of visiting Sacred Heart at Knott Arena on Friday night.
Mezie Offurum matched a career high with 22 points to lead five Mountaineers in double figures in the game. The Mount raced to a 29-point halftime lead and shot 58.0 percent from the field in the game. The Mount improves to 7-10 overall and 3-4 in the Northeast Conference with tonight's victory.
Offurum went 8-of-10 from the field while hitting both of his three-point attempts and all four of his free throws to match his career-best with 22 points in just 17 minutes of action.
Josh Reaves chipped in 15 points off the bench, hitting 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range in the game for the Mount.
Nana Opoku tallied his second double-double over his past three games with 13 points and 10 boards while
Jalen Benjamin chipped in 13 points and five assists for the Mount.
Malik Jefferson was the fifth Mount player in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting while adding six boards and three assists.
Deandre Thomas also had a strong game for the Mount with eight points, seven assists and three boards. Freshman
Jaylin Gibson grabbed a season-high seven rebounds with Frantisek Barton matching his season
Playing their first home game in 34 days, the Mountaineers came out flying to take an 8-0 lead in the opening 1:16. Thomas opened the game with a three-pointer to put the Mount on top. Offurum followed with a three-pointer of his own from the top of the key to make it 6-0, and he then followed with a thunderous jam off a steal. After Sacred Heart's Alex Watson hit a three, the Mount continued its opening surge with another Offurum dunk and a Benjamin triple from the left wing for a 13-3 advantage. The Pioneers scored the next five points to cut the Mount's lead in half, but Benjamin countered with a three to kick-start another 8-0 run for a 21-8 advantage.
Leading 30-16 just past the halfway point of the first half, the Mount Reaves drained a three-pointer to ignite an 18-to-2 scoring spurt that pushed the Mount's advantage to 46-18 with 3:38 left in the opening half. The onslaught continued with the Mount taking a 55-26 lead to the locker room at the half.
The 55 points in the opening half were the most in an opening half by a Mount team against a Division I opponent since scoring 59 in the first half at Norfolk State on January 3, 2014. The 55 first-half points are also the fifth-best first half scoring total by a Mount team since the school moved to NCAA Division I in 1988-89. Earlier this season, the Mount scored 61 points in the first half of its 117-62 win over Washington College on November 9, the highest scoring first half since the school moved to NCAA Division I. The Mount shot 57.9 percent (22-of-38) in the half overall while hitting 8-of-14 (.571) from beyond the arc. Jefferson and Reaves each tallied 11 first-half points with Benjamin nabbing 10.
It was much of the same for the Mountaineers in the second half as the lead ballooned to 77-43 after a Thomas three-pointer with 12:39 left in the contest. The lead remained in that range until the final minutes where an 11-to-2 Mount run to close out the contests pushed the final margin to 39 points.
The Mount shot 58.0 percent (40-of-69) from the field in the game, including 11-of-22 (.500) from three-point land. The Mount held the Pioneers to 33.3 percent shooting (19-of-57) overall and 8-of-25 (.320) from three-point range. The Mount held a commanding 48-to-25 edge on the boards and had 21 assists with just nine turnovers in the game.
Alex Watson led Sacred Heart (7-11, 3-4 NEC) with 22 points with Aaron Clarke also in double figures with 14. The Mount held Tyler Thomas, the NEC's second-leading scorer at 19.1 points entering tonight's game, to six points on 20of-11 shooting.
Up next, the Mountaineers host Central Connecticut on Sunday, January 23, for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at Knott Arena.
