Box Score Smithfield, R.I. (March 5, 2022)--Mount St. Mary's saw its season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in a 70-69 loss at top-seeded Bryant at the Chace Athletic Center in the Northeast Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday. Bryant's Charles Pride hit a free throw with 0.8 seconds left for the winning point in a rematch of last year's NEC year's Championship game won by the Mount.
Mount St. Mary's (14-16) built an eight-point lead, 58-50, with eight minutes remaining.
Jalen Benjamin, who led the Mount with 16 points, hit a pull-up jumper to put the Mount up, 52-48.
Deandre Thomas followed with a slam off a steal for a six-point advantage. After a stop on the defensive end,
Nana Opoku hit a floater to give the Mount a 56-48 lead. After a pair of free throws,
Josh Reaves found Opoku for a dunk to make it 58-50.
Bryant cut the deficit to 62-60 on a Luis Hurtado three-pointer with 3:51 on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Benjamin drew a foul, but was injured on the play and he did not return to the lineup the rest of the way. The Mount missed a jumper on its next possession, and Pride hit a pair of free throws with 3:12 left to even the score. The Mount's Thomas fouled out on the play, leaving the Mountaineers without their starting backcourt for the tense final three minutes.
Neither team was able to break the tie over the next two minutes until Pride hit two more free throws with 52 seconds on the clock to put Bryant on top, 64-62. The Bryant press forced a steal and Pride converted a quick lay-up to make it 66-62. The Mount answered with
Malik Jefferson connecting on a floater with 34 seconds left to cut the deficit to two. The Mount fouled Hall Elisias, and he hit both free throws to make the score 68-64. Reaves then came up with a big shot for the Mount, draining a deep three-pointer to cut the deficit to 68-67 with 21 seconds remaining.
The Mount immediately fouled Elisias, and this time he hit 1-of-2 to push the lead to 69-67. The Mount got the ball to
Mezie Offurum, who drove to the basket and dished to Jefferson for a dunk that tied the score at 69-69 with 10 seconds left, setting up the final seconds. Bryant's Peter Kiss drove the right side, but his shot was off the mark. There was a scramble for the rebound that saw Pride come up the ball, and he was fouled with 0.8 seconds left. Pride missed the first shot, but hit the second for the winning point. The Mount's desperation heave was off the mark, and Bryant was able to escape with the one-point victory.
Benjamin led the Mountaineers with 16 points with Offurum adding 14 in the loss. Reaves had a tremendous game off the bench for the Mount with 13 points, five assists and four boards with Jefferson and Opoku finishing with eight points each.
Pride led all scorers in the game with 24 points while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Pride was 13-of-15 at the foul line in the game. The Mountaineers held Kiss, who entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 25.1 points per game, to 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Hurtado had 14 points and six rebounds with Elisias adding 13 points and six boards in the win.
The Mountaineers were 27-of-60 (.450) from the field and 6-of-16 (.375) from three-point range. Bryant was held to 38.5 percent (20-of-52) shooting in the game, including just 5-of-21 (.238) from three. Free throws ended up being the difference as the Bulldogs were 25-of-29 at the line compared to the Mount's 9-of-10.
A nip-and-tuck first half featured 11 lead changes, nine ties, and the biggest lead for either team being five points. The Mount held a 24-21 lead after an Offurum three-point play with 5:15 left in the opening half. Bryant was able to surge ahead, 29-27, on a Pride drive, but Reaves countered with a three-point play to put the Mount back on top, 30-29. Byrant responded to regain a 35-32 lead, but a pair of Benjamin free throws with 47 seconds left in the half cut the deficit to 35-34. Kiss closed out the scoring in the half with a drive with the Mount unable to score on its final possession, making the score 37-34 Bryant at the break.
The Mountaineers fall to 8-8 all-time in the NEC Tournament semifinal round and are now 30-19 all-time in NEC Tournament games. The Mount is now 2-1 all-time against Bryant in NEC Tournament play.
