Emmitsburg, Md. (February 19, 2022)—Mount St. Mary's staged a late rally, but came up short in a 66-61 loss to visiting LIU before 2,625 fans at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon.  With the loss, the Mount falls to 12-14 overall and 8-8 in Northeast Conference play.

LIU (13-13, 10-6 NEC) took its biggest lead of the game at 60-48 when Ty Flowers hit 1-of-2 at the foul line with 3:52 on the clock.  The Mountaineers rallied, using a 13-to-4 run to make it a one-possession  game in the closing seconds.  The Mount started its comeback bid when Jaylin Gibson scored on a drive to the basket to make it 60-50.  Dakota Leffew then added a bucket in transition on a feed from Jalen Benjamin, and Nana Opoku added a putback dunk to cut the deficit to 60-54 with 1:46 left.

The Mount forced a turnover, and Jalen Benjamin was fouled on the ensuing possession.  Benjamin hit both free throws to make it a four-point game with 1:06 on the clock.  LIU's Trey Wood and Alex Rivera sandwiched a pair of free throw makes around a pair of free throws from Benjamin to make it 64-58 with 38 seconds left in the game.

On the Mount's next possession, Gibson drained a corner three-pointer with 29 seconds on the clock to make it a one-possession game at 64-61.  The Mount was able to force a turnover in the backcourt and got the ball back with 24 seconds remaining.  The Mount worked the ball around to Gibson in the left corner, but his three-point attempt with 12 seconds left was off the mark.  Mezie Offurum collected the rebound for the Mount, but his putback attempt was off, and LIU's Kyndall Davis was fouled with 4.4 seconds on the clock.  Davis hit both free throws to seal the win.

LIU led 33-26 at the half, and then opened the second half with an Isaac Kante basket to take a nine-point lead, but the Mount fought back with a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 36-35.  Opoku started the run with a basket, and Benjamin then connected on back-to-back three-pointers to make it a one-point game.  Offurum gave the Mount a 36-35 lead on a slam dunk in transition.  The Mount held a 40-38 lead after an Opoku basket, but LIU countered with an 11-0 run to take a 49-40 advantage with 9:23 on the clock.

Benjamin, who missed the previous game due to injury, led the Mount with 13 points off the bench.  Opoku chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds while Offurum added 11 points and a team-high eight boards.  LIU had five players in double figures with Eral Penn and Flowers leading the way with 13.  Wood and Davis each had 12 with Rivera adding 10 in the victory.

The Mount shot 23-of-61 (.377) from the field and 7-of-21 (.333) from three-point range in the game.  LIU shot 25of-53 (.472) while converting 4-of-12 (.333) from beyond the arc.  Mount St. Mary's held a 37-30 rebound edge, but had 18 turnovers compared to LIU's 15 in the game.

LIU jumped out to a 23-12 lead in the opening 12 minutes, scoring 14 points off nine Mount miscues over that stretch.  The Mount whittled the deficit to 23-22 on a Dakota Leffew three-pointer, but was able to build the lead back to 33-26 at the half.  In all, the Mount had 14 first half turnovers that led to 18 LIU points.

The Mount will be either the No. 4 or the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament.    Mount St. Mary's currently holds the No. 4 position, one game ahead of St. Francis Brooklyn, and has a magic number of two with two games remaining to clinch that spot. 

Mount St. Mary's closes out the season with a pair of road games.  The Mount visits Sacred Heart on Thursday, February 24, at 7:00 p.m. before heading to Central Connecticut for a 1:00 p.m. game on Sunday, February 26.