Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. (January 8, 2022)—Josh Reaves and Jalen Benjamin keyed a strong second half to propel Mount St. Mary's past St. Francis Brooklyn, 69-61, on Saturday afternoon.  Reaves scored a season-high 19 points while Benjamin scored all 16 of his points in the second half to pace the Mountaineers.

Trailing 32-24 at the break, the Mount (5-9, 1-3 NEC) opened the second half on a 16-to-5 run to take the lead.  The Mountaineers scored the first six points of the half on a Nana Opoku bucket and two free throws each from Malik Jefferson and Benjamin.  The Terriers (4-11, 1-3 NEC) held a 37-34 lead before Reaves drained back-to-back triples to give the Mount a 40-37 advantage, its first lead since midway through the first half.

Leading 44-42 with just under 12 minutes remaining, Benjamin took things into his own hands with a personal 10-0 scoring run that pushed the Mountaineers ahead by double figures at 54-42.  Benjamin sandwiched three-pointers around a pair of free throws and a driving lay-up during the scoring spurt.

Mount St. Mary's maintained a comfortable lead from there and had answers to any push the Terriers made to try and get back into the game.  A Malik Jefferson tip-in gave the Mount a 61-50 lead before St. Francis' Rob Higgins drained a three to make it an eight-point game with 5:00 left.

The Mount responded on the next possession when Mezie Offurum connected on a traditional three-point play to push the margin back to double figures.  St. Francis was able to cut its deficit to six points, 65-59, on a pair of Higgins free throws with 2:02 left, but Deandre Thomas and Benjamin each went 2-for-2 at the line over the next 1:21 to seal the victory.

Overall, the Mount outscored St. Francis, 45-29, in the second half to rally for the victory.  The standout performance saw the Mount shoot 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the floor, 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from three-point range and 92.3 percent (12-of-13) at the foul line in the second stanza.  The Mount defense also keyed the second-half surge, holding the Terriers to 9-of-31 (.290) shooting.

Reaves finished the day with 19 points and five rebounds, connecting on 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range.  Benjamin scored all 16 of his points in the second half while adding three assists and a 6-for-6 effort at the charity stripe.  Opoku had a solid line of 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots with Thomas chipping in nine points, four boards and four assists.  Offurum also had a strong game with eight points and five rebounds.  Higgins led four Terriers in double figures with 13 points.  Michael Cubbage and Patrick Emilien each scored 11 with Trey Quartlebaum had 10 in the loss.

The Mount offense was clicking in the contest, connecting on 56.4 percent (22-of-39) shooting, including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from three-point range.  The Mount held the Terriers to 30.2 percent shooting (19-of-63) overall and 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from beyond the arc.  St. Francis took 24 more field goal attempts in the game than the Mount on the strength of 16 forced turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds.

In the first half, Reaves connected on 1-of-2 at the line to give the Mount a 13-12 lead just past the midway point, but the Terriers responded with an 18-to-4 run to take a 30-17 advantage, its biggest lead of the game.  St. Francis hit four three-pointers during the run while also adding three free throws when fouled on a three-point attempt.

Offurum ended the run with a drive to the bucket and Reaves drained a three-pointer to make it 30-22.  After a Cubbage bucket, another Offurum lay-up trimmed the Mount's deficit to 32-24 at the half.
Turnovers were a key in the opening half as the Mount had 11 miscues that led to 11 St. Francis Brooklyn points.  The Terriers also held a 6-0 edge on the offensive glass that helped lead to a +14 margin in field goal attempts in the half.  The Mount shot 44.4 percent (8-of-18) in the half with St. Francis Brooklyn shooting 31.3 percent (10-of-32).

The Mountaineers are now off for a week before heading to Bryant for a 1:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday, January 15, in a rematch of last year's NEC title game.