Box Score Los Angeles, Calif. (November 18, 2022)—Dakota Leffew scored a career-high 21 points while Malik Jefferson added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but USC was able to hold off a late rally for an 83-74 win over Mount St. Mary's at the Galen Center on Friday night.  Trailing by 17 points late in the second half, the Mount (1-3) rallied to cut the deficit to seven, but ran out of time as USC held on for the nine-point win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Leffew, who has scored in double figures in each of the Mount's four games this season, finished with career highs in points (21) and steals (4) in the game.  He went 7-for-13 from the field and was 4-of-5 from three-point range in the game.  Jefferson finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his 15^th career double-double while also adding a career-high four steals in the game.  Jefferson went 8-for-9 from the field in the game and he has made 17 of his past 18 field goal attempts dating back to the second half of the Mount's game at Coppin State.   Jalen Benjamin added 17 points and seven assists, hitting 9-of-10 from the foul line in the game.  USC was able to hold Benjamin to 3-of-20 shooting from the field.

USC was paced by the trio of Boogie Ellis, Drew Peterson and Joshua Morgan.  Ellis led the Trojans (3-1) with 19 points, Peterson just missed a triple-double with 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds while Morgan added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds while also collecting four blocks.

Jefferson scored the Mount's first six points of the second half, but it was USC who made the first run of the game, pulling ahead to a 43-34 advantage at the first media timeout.  USC extended its lead to 49-38 before Jaylin Gibson converted a four-point play to make it 49-42 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Leffew converted a lay-up off a steal to make it 51-44, but USC rattled off the next eight points to take its biggest lead of the game at 59-44 midway through the second half. The Mount continued to battle, scoring five in a row on a pair of Benjamin free throws and a Josh Reaves triple to make it 59-49 with 8:24 on the clock. 

Trailing by 17 late, the Mount made one final push with a 10-0 run.  Jefferson started the run with a putback, Leffew a three-pointer, a Benjamin runout, and another Leffew triple to make it 75-68 with two minutes left.  The Mount had a chance to cut into the lead again, but a Benjamin miss and then a turnover led to a USC basket that made it 77-68.  Leffew hit 1-of-2 at the line with 26 seconds left to make it 79-71, but USC was able to hold on for the win.

The Mountaineers started the game quickly, hitting four of their first five shots from the field to build an 8-4 advantage in the early going.  Jefferson had a pair of buckets in the early run with Thomas and Leffew also scoring.

USC was able to grab a 15-14 advantage nearing the midpoint of the opening half, but Benjamin drained a long three-pointer to put the Mount back on top, 17-15.  Trailing 20-17, Leffew connected on a triple, and then added a bucket to even the score again at 22-22.  USC was able to close out the half with a 10-to-6 run for a 32-28 lead at the break.

The Mount finished the half shooting 42.9 percent from the field (12-of-28) and 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from three-point range.  USC was 11-of-29 (.379) on field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes while connecting on 2-of-11 (.182) from beyond the arc.  USC held a 20-to-16 advantage on the boards with each team committing seven turnovers.

Mount St. Mary's continues its three-game California trip on Sunday with a 7:00 p.m. PT matchup at Cal Poly that is part of the California Thanksgiving Jam .  It will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Game Notes:  The Mountaineers are now 0-6 all-time against Pac-12 opponents…The Mount's last game against a Pac-12 foe was a 56-46 loss at No. 20 Washington on Nov. 12, 2019…Jefferson's double-double is the 15^th of his Mount career, matching Michael Watson for the most career double-doubles since the Mount moved to NCAA Division I in 1988-89…Jefferson's 16 points give him 971 for his career, moving him within 29 points of reaching the career 1,000-point plateau.