Emmitsburg, Md. (December 3, 2023)--De'Shayne Montgomery and
Dakota Leffew poured in a combined 50 points to lead Mount St. Mary's to an easy 80-48 win over Siena on Sunday afternoon at Knott Arena. Montgomery paced the Mount with a career-best 27 points while Leffew matched his career high with 23 in the 32-point win. The Mount improves to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with the victory.
A freshman, Montgomery produced a sensational stat line of 27 points, six rebounds, four blocks and four steals in 25 minutes of action. His 27-point effort is the most by a Mount freshman since Shivaugn Wiggins scored 28 for the Mount in a 103-82 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on March 2, 2013. He is also just the ninth player in NCAA Division I over the past 14 seasons to put together that stat line. He hit 11-of-13 from the field and was 3-for-3 from three-point range in the game as well while adding a pair of assists. Leffew was just as dominant for the Mountaineers in the victory as well. He matched his career high of 23 points while adding eight assists, five rebounds and a pair of steals, hitting all five of his three-point attempts while going 9-for-10 from the field in the game. Leffew has scored 20 or more points in each of the past four games, averaging 21.5 points over that span. His 5-for-5 effort from three-point range is tied for the second-best single-game mark in Mount history. Keving Booth holds the record by hitting all seven of his three-point attempts in a win over Widener on Jan. 21, 1989. Leffew joins Chris Vann (11-24-07 at James Madison) and Will Miller (1-3-14 at Norfolk State) who also hit all five of their three-point attempts in a game.
The Mount had its best shooting night of the season, hitting 29-of-53 (.547) from the field and 10-of-18 (.556) from three-point range. The Mountaineers were even better in the second half, shooting 62.1 percent (18-of-29) overall and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from beyond the arc while pouring in 50 second-half points.
George Tinsley,
Dallas Hobbs,
Joshua Reaves and
Dola Adebayo each finished with six points in the win. Siena was paced by Giovanni Emejuru and Zek Tekin, who each had 13 points in the loss. The Mount held the Saints to 35.7 percent shooting (20-of-56) overall and just 2-of-15 (.133) from three-point range.
After Siena (2-6, 1-1 MAAC) took an early 6-to-3 lead, the Mount responded with 12 unanswered points to take the lead, 15-to-6. Montgomery had seven points and Leffew four during the run that was capped by a Hobbs drive. After Siena answerd with the next seven points to cut the Mount lead to 15-to-13 with 8:35 left in the half, the Mount outscored the Saints, 15-to-1, the rest of the way to take a commanding 30-14 lead at the break.
The second half saw the Mount add to its lead, using a 14-to-2 run for a commanding 56-23 lead. The advantage ballooned to 36 points (70-34) after a Reaves three-pointer with 6:33 left, and from there, the Mount cruised to its first MAAC win of the year.
UP NEXT: The Mount returns to non-conference action with a Tuesday night matchup at Ole Miss. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
