Emmitsburg, Md. (January 28, 2023)--It was a tale of two halves for Mount St. Mary's in a 73-62 home loss to Saint Peter's before a near sellout crowd on Winter Homecoming at Knott Arena.  The Mountaineers led by 12 at the break, only to see the Peacocks roar back in the second half for the victory.  Jalen Benjamin led the Mount with 21 points in the game.

The Mount offense was clicking in the first half en route to a 38-26 lead at the break.  The Mountaineers shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field and 7-of-13 (.538) from three-point range in taking the double-digit advantage. 

The game started slowly with the Mountaineers holding a 4-2 lead at the first media timeout on a pair of Benjamin jumpers.  Saint Peter's (9-12, 4-8 MAAC) rebounded to push out to a 10-6 advantage and led by four with 8:44 minutes left in the half.  The Mount answered with a 20-to-7 scoring run to grab the lead.  George Tinsley opened the run with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 17-16, and after a Jaylen Murray bucket, Jedy Cordilia flushed home a dunk on a feed from Tinsley.  Benjamin put the Mount on top by hitting a pair of free throws after a Saint Peter's technical, and Cordilia then scored in paint for a 22-19 Mount lead.

After a three-pointer by Saint Peter's, Xavier Lipscomb sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a Jayden Saddler basket, and Dakota Leffew drilled a three-pointer on the break to put the Mount ahead by seven. Benjamin capped the run with a step back jumper for a 33-24 advantage.  After a Saint Peter's basket, Leffew scored in the paint and Benjamin closed the half with a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put the Mount on top, 38-26.

The second half was a different story as Saint Peter's outscored the Mountaineers, 47-24, in the stanza to rally for the win.  The Peacocks hit five of their first six shots in the half, and eventually took the lead at 48-47 when Latrell Reid hit a pair of free throws with 8:58 left in the game.  Kyle Cardaci then connected on a three-pointer to make it 51-47, capping a 25-to-9 Saint Peter's run.  The Mount pulled with a pair of points on a couple of occasions, and cut the deficit to 60-57 after a Leffew three-pointer with 3:32 remaining.  Saint Peter's answered with a pair of Dasher free throws, and then a Corey Washington lay-up on a feed from Dasher for a 64-57 advantage with 2:12 left.  From there, Saint Peter's was able to make the plays down the stretch to seal the win.

Benjamin finished with a game-high 21 points while adding seven assists for the Mount (7-15, 3-8 MAAC) while Leffew had 17 points, connecting on 5-of-13 from three-point range.  Cordilia also reached double figures with 10 points while grabbing five boards.  Murray paced Saint Peter's with 18 points off the bench with Dash finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.  Reid added 11 points, five boards and four assists in the victory.

Saint Peter's shot 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the field in the second half, including 5-of-9 (.556) from beyond the three-point arc.  For the game, Saint Peter's shot 52.3 percent overall and was 9-of-16 (.563) from three.  The Mount shot 30.0 percent (6-of-20) in the second half and 40.8 percent in the game.

Mount St. Mary's heads on the road for a two-game road trip beginning with a matchup at Iona on Friday, February 3.  Tip-off for that game is set for 7:00 p.m.