Box Score Hamden, Conn. (January 25, 2024)—Mount St. Mary's dropped a road matchup with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leader Quinnipiac, 79-65, on Thursday night at M&T Bank Arena.
Dakota Leffew led the Mount with 15 points while
Joshua Reaves added 12 and freshman
Ronald Jessamy a career high 11 in the loss. The Mountaineers fall to 7-12 overall and 3-5 in the MAAC.
The first half was a tight-knit affair with the biggest lead for either team being five points. The Mount held its biggest advantage at 12-8 after a Leffew putback. The game remained tight with Jedy Cordila's bucket with 4:11 left in the half evening the score at 29-29. A
Dola Adebayo dunk pulled the Mount within 36-35 with just under a minute remaining, but a pair of Savion Lewis baskets closed the half to put the Bobcats up, 40-35, at the break.
After Quinnipiac (15-4, 7-1 MAAC) opened the second half with a basket, Reaves hit a three and Adebayo scored on the baseline to cut the deficit to 42-40. The Bobcats responded with a 12-to-2 run to push out to a 54-42 lead. The Mount trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Leffew went 6-of-12 from the field, but was just 1-of-5 from three-point range, for his 15-point night. Reaves, playing in his hometown, ad 12 points, connecting on a pair of three-pointers. Jessamy tallied 11 points on five field goals for his best scoring night of his career. Matt Balanc led four Quinnipiac players in double figures with 18 points. Lewis finished with 11 while Paul Otieno and Doug Young each had 10 in the win.
The Mount shot just 10-of-30 (.333) from the field and 1-of-12 (.083) from three-point range in the second half. Quinnipiac shot 47.7 percent in the game, hitting 10-of-30 (.333) from three-point range in the game. Turnovers hurt the Mount's chances as 18 miscues led to 18 points for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac held a narrow 31-to-30 edge on the boards.
UP NEXT: The Mount welcomes Rider for Homecoming on Saturday, January 27, at 5:00 p.m.
