Box Score Emmitsburg, Md. (October 28, 2023)--Mount St. Mary's outlasted Bucknell, 72-67, in double overtime in the Behan Strong Charity Exhibition Game at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Dakota Leffew led the Mount with 23 points while
Joshua Reaves added 14 in the victory. The game was played to benefit "Behan Strong", a foundation set up to support Pat Behan '10, a former Bison standout player who was most recently the head boys' basketball coach at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. Pat is currently in a battle with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Leffew drilled a three-pointer with 3:14 left in the second overtime to put the Mount on top, 63-62, and after the Bison hit 1-of-2 at the line,
Dallas Hobbs connected on a pair of free throws for a 65-63 advantage. Reaves then scored on a backdoor cut on a pretty pass from
De'Shayne Montgomery for a 67-63 lead with 2:00 on the clock. The Bison pulled within a bucket with just under a minute left, but Hobbs hit 5-of-6 at the line from there to seal the victory.
In the first overtime,
George Tinsley gave the Mountaineers a 60-58 lead with just under a minute remaining . Bucknell was able to tie the score with five seconds left in the first overtime on a Jack Forrest basket. Forrest was fouled on the play, but he missed the free throw. The Bison corralled the rebound, but Tinsley was able to get a piece of a Forrest shot at the buzzer, forcing the second overtime period.
Montgomery made some key plays down the stretch in regulation, putting the Mount ahead, 46-45, on a driving layup with 4:13 remaining. He then blocked a shot on the other end that led to a Reaves corner jumper for a 48-45 lead. Bucknell's Noah Williamson tied the score with a three-pointer, but Frantisek Barton put the Mount back on top, 50-48, with 1:55 left. After a stop, Leffew converted a floater for a four-point lead. The Bison hit a pair of free throws, but Montgomery put the Mount back ahead by four with an emphatic dunk on a drive with 20 seconds on the clock. Bucknell's Elvin Edmonds IV hit two free throws with 12 seconds left, and the Mount turned the ball over, but the Bison missed two potential go-ahead three-pointers. The Mount collected the rebound with 1.1 seconds on the clock, but turned the ball over and Bucknell's Josh Bascoe hit a floater at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Leffew scored a game-high 23 points, hitting 5-of-8 from three-point range in the victory in 42 minutes of acton. He added four rebounds, two blocks and two assists in the win. Reaves connected on 6-of-11 from the field for his 14 points while Tinsley finished with eight points, four boards and three assists while playing 45 minutes. Barton had a team-high nine boards while
Xavier Lipscomb had five assists and seven boards. Edmonds IV led Bucknell with 16 points while Williamson had 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Mount shot 43.3 percent overall in the game while connecting on 7-of-22 (.318) from three-point range and 13-of-15 (.867) at the charity stripe. Bucknell shot 34.2 percent (27-of-79) while being held to 1-of-26 (.038) from three-point range. The Mount committed 21 tunovers in the game compared to 10 by the Bison.
UP NEXT: The Mount opens the 2023-24 regular season at Maryland on Tuesday, November 7. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
