Emmitsburg, Md. (January 13, 2013)--Mount St. Mary's saw its offense go cold down the stretch in a 62-57 loss to Manhattan at Knott Arena on Friday night.  George Tinsley scored a season-high 18 points to lead the Mountaineers in the game.

Leading by one early in the second half, the Mount scored seven consecutive points to build a 43-35 advantage.  Tinsley opened the streak with a jumper and then followed with a three-pointer from the left corner off a feed from Deandre Thomas in transition.  After a steal, Dakota Leffew drew a flagrant foul, and connected on both free throw attempts to put the Mount up by eight with just under 11 minutes remaining.

The Mount was able to maintain that margin over the next few minutes and held a 48-40 advantage after a Jaylin Gibson three-pointer with 8:44 remaining.  After the Jaspers (6-10, 4-3 MAAC) scored the next four points, Tinsley scored in the paint for a 50-44 Mount lead with 7:41 remaining in the game.

From that point, the Mount offense went cold as Manhattan closed the game on an 18-to-7 run to rally for the victory.  Ant Nelson scored five consecutive points to start the rally, and Manhattan tied the score at 52-52 on a Logan Padgett three-pointer with 4:25 on the clock.  The Mount's Xavier Lipscomb hit a pair of free throws with 3:30 left to put the Mount on top, 54-52.  Manhattan's Marques Watson tied the score on a putback with 2:22 left, and a Josh Roberts putback with 1:32 left gave Manhattan a two-point lead.  The Mount had a chance to regain the lead, but Leffew's three-pointer from the left corner rattled out, and Nelson converted on a floater with 56.5 seconds left for a four-point lead.  Lipscomb missed a three on the Mount's next possession, and Nelson connected on 4-of-5 from the foul line to make it 62-54 before Gibson hit a three with 2.2 seconds left to close out the scoring for the final score of 62-57.

Tinsley, in his first season at the Mount after transferring from Binghamton, finished 8-of-16 from the field for his season-high 18 points while adding six rebounds and three assists in the game.  Leffew reached double figures with 10 points while adding three assists and a pair of steals.  Gibson had eight points while Lipscomb, Jedy Cordilia and Thomas each had six in the loss.  Nelson led all scorers with 20 points while finishing with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.  Roberts added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds for Manhattan in the win.

The Mount shot 8-of-26 (.308) from the field in the second half to finish 20-of-55 (.364) from the floor in the game.  Manhattan finished shooting 46.2 percent in the game while holding a 36-to-30 edge on the boards.

The Mount (6-11, 2-4 MAAC) started the game quickly as Leffew and Jalen Benjamin each hit three-pointers while Tinsley scored four points in a 10-to-3 run in the opening four minutes.  Manhattan responded with the next nine points to take the lead, and held its biggest lead of the half at 17-12.  The Mount rebounded to take the lead, 22-21, on a Thomas three-pointer.  Leading 24-23, Tinsley scored the next five points to make it 29-23.  After a Manhattan basket, Leffew closed the half with a three-pointer to give the Mount a 32-25 halftime advantage.

Up next, the Mount hosts Quinnipiac at Knott Arena on Sunday.  Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.