Stockton, Calif. (November 22, 2022)—Mount St. Mary's turned in its best performance of the season in an impressive 69-65 win at Pacific on Tuesday night.  Jalen Benjamin led the Mountaineers with 19 points while Malik Jefferson recorded his 16^th career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.   The Mountaineers move to 3-3 on the season after ending their three-game California road trip with back-to-back wins over Cal Poly and Pacific.
 
Benjamin was 8-for-21 from the field for his game-high 19 points while adding six assists and four rebounds in the win.  The 5-10 senior guard has scored 17 or more points in each of the Mount's first six games. 

Jefferson's 12 points and 10 rebounds makes him the Mount's all-time leader in career double-doubles since the school moved to NCAA Division I in 1988-89.  His 16 career double-doubles are one more than Michael Watson, who had 15 from 1991-95.  Jefferson is on the precipice of another career milestone as he now has 997 points as a Mountaineer in 116 career games played.   Deandre Thomas hit double figures for the first time this season with a season-high 12 points.

Tyler Beard led Pacific (2-3) with 16 points, Jordan Ivy-Curry had 15 and Donovan Williams had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers in the loss.

A strong defensive effort was a key to the Mount's win, holding Pacific to 65 points, 40.3 percent shooting overall and a 3-for-19 (.158) performance from three-point range.  The Tigers entered game averaging 88 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range.

Leffew started the second half with a dunk off a backdoor cut to give the Mount a six-point lead, 39-33.  Pacific pulled within two before Benjamin scored on a backdoor feed from Jedy Cordilia for a 45-41 lead at the first media timeout of the second half.  The Mount stretched the advantage to 53-45 when Benjamin converted a tough drive to the basket with just under 13 minutes remaining.

Jaylin Gibson connected on a three-pointer to give the Mount its first double-digit advantage, and Jefferson received a friendly roll for a 60-49 lead with just under 10 minutes left.  Mount St. Mary's was able to maintain that advantage over the next eight minutes with Benjamin hitting a hook shot in the lane making it 68-57 with 2:39 on the clock.

Pacific made things interesting, scoring the next eight points to trim the Mount's lead to three points, 68-65, with 40.0 seconds on the clock.   On the ensuing possession, Benjamin's shot on a drive to the basket rimmed out, but Jefferson grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled.  Jefferson connected on 1-of-2 at the line with nine second left to seal the win.

The first half featured differing styles as the Mount was hot from three-point range and Pacific was able to score of drives to the basket and on the offensive glass.  The Tigers jumped out to a 6-2 early lead, but Benjamin, Xavier Lipscomb and Leffew each hit a three-pointer to help the Mount take a 15-to-13 advantage.

A Lipscomb triple from the right corner gave the Mountaineers an 18-to-15 advantage, and a Benjamin three at the midway point of the half gave the Mount a 24-22 lead.  Both teams went quiet on the offensive end with neither team scoring over the next three minutes before Jefferson scored in the paint to give the Mount its biggest lead of the half, 26-22.

Pacific fought back and regained the lead at 30-28 when Nick Blake hit a three-pointer with 4:02 left in the half.  Blake was fouled on the shot, but missed his chance at a four-point play by missing the free throw.  The Mount countered on the following possession with a Thomas three-pointer to retake the lead, 31-30.  Thomas converted a drive and Cordilia hit a pair of free throws for a 35-30 Mount lead.  After a Pacific three-pointer, Benjamin hit a tough pull-up jump to give the Mount a 37-33 at the half.

Benjamin led the Mount with 10 points and three assists in the first half with Jefferson chipping in seven points and four rebounds.  Blake led Pacific with seven points in the half.  The Mount hit 14-of-29 (.483) from the floor in the opening half while connecting on 6-of-14 (.429) from three-point range.  Pacific was 14-of-34 (.412) from the field in the half, but struggled from three-point range, hitting 3-of-13 (.231). 

The Mountaineers return to the court on Saturday, November 26, at Navy.  Tip-off is set for 11:00 a.m. at Alumni Hall.