Emmitsburg, Md. (January 21, 2024)--Mount St. Mary's fell to a hot shooting Niagara squad, 82-71, on Sunday afternoon at Knott Arena. The Purple Eagles hit 12-of-18 (.667) from three-point range to secure the road win.
Dakota Leffew led the Mount with a team-high 18 points while
Dallas Hobbs chipped in 12 in the defeat. With the loss, the Mount is now 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The Purple Eagles (9-9, 5-3 MAAC) built an 18-point advantage 12 minutes into the game, using a 15-to-3 run to take a 32-14 lead with 8:21 left in the half. It was a 36-18 Niagara advantage with 6:11 remaining in the half before the Mountaineers rallied. Back-to-back dunks from
De'Shayne Montgomery and
Ronald Jessamy were part of a 16-2 Mount run to close the half, slicing the deficit to 38-34 at the break.
A Jessamy lay-up with 14:14 remaining in the second half pulled the Mount within three points (47-44), but Niagara countered with a 9-to-2 run to build a 10-point lead. The Purple Eagles extended the advantage to 65-50 with 7:11 on the clock, but the Mount had one more run to get back into the game. Leffew had eight points and Hobbs five during a 15-to-5 Mount scoring streak that made it 70-65 with just under three minutes on the clock. Niagara was able to counter with the next four points to stem the tide, and then held on for the 82-71 victory.
Leffew finished 9-for-15 from the field for his 18-point effort while Hobbs was 4-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 at the line in a 12-point game. Jessamy added eight points off the bench while
George Tinsley,
Jedy Cordilia,
Joshua Reaves and Montgomery each added six in the loss. Ahmad Henderson II led all scorers with 23 points to pace Niagara.
The Purple Eagles finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the field (29-of-53) while connecting on the 12 three-point field goals. The Mount shot 58.8 percent (30-of-51) in the game, but were just 1-of-4 (.250) from three-point range in the contest.
Up next, the Mount visits Quinnipiac on Thursday, January 25, at 7:30 p.m. The Mount's next home game will be at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 27, when Rider visits Knott Arena for homecoming.
