Emmitsburg, Md. (March 2, 2022)--Fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's rolled to a 78-48 win over fifth-seeded St. Francis Brooklyn in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on a milestone night at Knott Arena.  The Mount's list of milestones included Nana Opoku and Jalen Benjamin each recording their 1,000th career point, Malik Jefferson becoming the Mount's NCAA Division I rebound leader, and head coach Dan Engelstad posting his 150th career win.  The Mount's 30-point win was the team's second largest in an NEC Tournament game since joining the league in 1988-89.

Benjamin paced a balanced offense for the Mountaineers (14-15) with a game-high 16 points while Mezie Offurum and Opoku chipped in 15 points each.  Jefferson just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in the victory.  The Mount shot 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the field in the game, including 6-of-13 (.462) from three-point range.  The top defensive team in the NEC, the Mountaineers held St. Francis Brooklyn to 20-of-57 (.351) shooting overall and 7-of-25 (.280) from beyond the three-point arc.

The Mount started quickly, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the opening two and a half minutes.  Opoku started the scoring in the game with a hook shot on the first possession.  He then capped the early run with a three-point play with 17:26 left in the opening half.  The Terriers hung tough, cutting the deficit to 21-18 with 8:39 left in the opening half on a Larry Moreno bucket.  Leading 26-21, the Mount used a 10-to-3 run to push its advantage to 12 points with just under two minutes left in the opening half.  Josh Reaves hit a triple to start the run with a Benjamin pull-up jumper giving the Mount its first double-digit advantage at 31-21.  After St. Francis guard Rob Higgins hit a three, Benjamin countered with a three of his own ahead of a Jefferson putback that made it 36-24.   The Mount led, 39-30, at the half.

St. Francis threatened to make it a game by scoring the first four points in the second half to cut the Mount's lead to 39-34.  The Mountaineers responded with a 12-to-2 run to grab a 15-point lead with 12:32 left in the game.  Jefferson sparked that run by sandwiching a pair of baskets around a Benjamin hoop.  Opoku's tip-in with capped the run to make it a 15-point advantage.  From there, the Mountaineers were able to cruise to the 30-point victory.

Jefferson's milestone rebound came on a defensive board with 4:19 left in the first half.  That board gave him 747 rebounds in his Mount career, the most by a Mount player since the school moved to NCAA Division I in 1988-89.  Jefferson broke the previous record of 746 that was held by Michael Watson (1991-95).

Opoku was the first Mountaineer to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau in the game when he scored on a hook shot in the lane with 8:17 remaining that gave Mount a 59-41 lead.  Opoku is the 48th player in Mount history to reach 1,000 career points, and he now has 1,005 points in 114 career games with the Mountaineers. It did not take Benjamin long to join Opoku with 1,000 career points as he drained a three-pointer with 7:09 remaining to give the Mount a 62-41 advantage.  Benjamin, who transferred to the Mount this season from UAB, now has 1,016 career points in 88 career games with UAB and the Mount.   Benjamin has 369 points in 28 games with the Mount this season, averaging a team-high 13.2 points per game.

The Mount's 30-point win was the second-largest margin of victory by a Mount team in the NEC Tournament.  The Mount topped LIU by 35 points, 93-58, in the NEC Quarterfinals at Knott Arena in 1996. This was the Mount's first home NEC Tournament game since Feb. 28, 2018.  The Mountaineers are now 14-4 all-time at home in NEC Tournament play.  The Mountaineers improve to 30-18 all-time in NEC Tournament games, including 15-8 in the NEC Quarterfinals.  The Mount is now 6-0 all-time against St. Francis Brooklyn in the NEC Tournament, including NEC Quarterfinal wins in 1993, 2014, 2016 and today.  The Mount also improves to 9-2 all-time as the No. 4 seed in NEC Tournament play.  This is the sixth time the Mountaineers have been the No. 4 seed since joining the league in 1988-89, winning the title as the No. 4 seed in 2008, 2014 and 2021.

Mount St. Mary's advances to the NEC semifinals to face top-seeded Bryant on Saturday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center.  The game will be a rematch of the Mount's 73-68 victory over the Bulldogs in the NEC Championship game at Bryant last season.  The Mountaineers are 8-7 all-time in the NEC Tournament semifinals and have defeated the top seed on the road in the NEC semifinals on three occasions (at Wagner in 2021, at Robert Morris in 2013 and at Robert Morris in 2008).