Emmitsburg, Md. (January 22, 2023)--Mount St. Mary's topped Marist, 59-55, behind a balanced scoring effort from the starting five to snap a four-game losing streak.  Jalen Benjamin scored 15 points to lead four Mountaineers in double figures in the homecourt victory.  The Mount shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from three-point range to improve to 7-13 overall and 3-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

The Mount starting lineup of Dakota Leffew, Deandre Thomas, Benjamin, George Tinsley and Jedy Cordilia combined to score all 59 points for the Mount in the victory.  This was the first time in seven games that the Mountaineers used the same starting lineup in back-to-back games.  Injuries have forced the Mount to use a different starting combination in the six prior contests.

Trailing 8-5 early in the game, the Mountaineers used an 8-0 run to take the lead.  Benjamin and Thomas connected on three-pointers and Tinsley hit a pair of free throws to give the Mount a five-point lead.  Benjamin hit a pull-up jumper for a 24-17 advantage, and despite Marist getting a putback basket from Javon Cooley at the buzzer, the Mount led by four, 26-22, at the break.

Marist (7-11, 3-6 MAAC) came out strong in the second half and tied the score at 29-29 after a Noah Harris three-point basket.  Mount St. Mary's answered with the next seven points on a Leffew step back jumper, a Benjamin pull-up and a Leffew triple.  The Mount held a 47-41 lead at the midpoint of the second stanza after Tinsley connected on a three, but Marist scored the next six points to tie the score with just over eight minutes on the clock.  Cordilia gave the Mount the lead on a jumper from the right baseline, and Leffew added a pair of free throws for a four-point advantage.

The Red Foxes cut the Mount's lead to 54-52 on an Isaiah Brickner bucket, but Cordilia connected on a turn-around jumper and then hit 1-of-2 at the foul line with 3:01 left for a 57-52 lead.  After the Mount got a pair of stops, Benjamin scored on a drive for a 59-52 lead.  Harris had a three-pointer bounce in with 40.1 seconds on the clock to make it 59-55, but the Mount was able to hold on for the win despite missing the front end of a one-and-one twice in the closing seconds.

Benjamin led the Mount with 15 points, hitting 6-of-13 from the field and both of his three-point attempts.  Cordilia followed his career-high 16-point effort at Siena on Friday with 13 points and seven rebounds in the win today.  Tinsley added 12 points and five rebounds while Leffew chipped in 10 points and five assists.  Thomas just missed his first career double-double, finishing with nine points and a career-high 11 boards.  Patrick Gardner led Marist with 17 points with Harris finishing with 14 in the loss.

The Mount finished the game shooting 43.5 percent (20-of-46) overall, but was a sizzling 9-for-13 (.692) from three-point range, including 6-for-7 (.857) from three-point range.  Marist shot 38.9 percent (21-of-54) overall and was 8-of-25 (.320) from beyond the arc.

Mount St. Mary's remains home to host Fairfield on Thursday, January 26, for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at Knott Arena.