Box Score Emmitsburg, Md. (January 27, 2024)—Mount St. Mary's was edged by Rider before a near sellout crowd on Winter Homecoming at Knott Arena on Saturday night.
Dakota Leffew led the Mount with 17 points while
Dola Adebayo added a career-high 16 points in the loss. The Mount falls to 7-13 overall and 3-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Trailing by seven at the half, the Mount stormed out of the gates with an 11-to-2 run to start the second stanza to take a 36-34 advantage. Leffewstarted the run with a three-pointer on the right wing with Adebayo then converting a hook shot in the lane. After a Mervyn James jumper for Rider, Adebayo canned a triple from the corner, and a
Joshua Reaves three put the Mount on top, 36-34.
A Leffew driving lay-up five minutes into the half gave the Mount its biggest lead of the game at 39-36. Rider scored the next four points to regain the lead, and the next eight minutes of the game featured nine lead changes. A
De'Shayne Montgomery drive put the Mount ahead, 51-50, but Rider scored the next five points to take a 56-51 lead with six minutes remaining.
Rider (7-13, 4-5 MAAC) held a tenuous advantage the rest of the way with the lead oscillating between two and four points for the final three minutes. The Broncs were able to keep the Mount at bay by converting all 17 free throw attempts in the game. James was the main reason for that as he was 12-for-12 at the line in the game, including 8-for-8 over the final 38 seconds.
Leffew went 7-for-15 from the field for his team-high 17 points while adding four rebounds and four assists for the Mountaineers. Adebayo went 7-for-9 from the field for his career-best 16 points while collecting seven boards. Freshman
Ronald Jessamy had 10 points off the bench for his second consecutive double-digit effort. Montgomery chipped in nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Mount as well.
James led all scorers in the game with 26 points while adding seven rebounds. Allen Powell (11) and T.J. Weeks, Jr. (10) also scored in double figures for the Broncs.
The Mount shot 43.6 percent from the field in the game, but was held to 4-of-18 (.222) from three-point range. Rider shot 41.8 percent in the contest and was just 3-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc. Rider was 17-for-17 at the line in the win while the Mount was 10-of-14 (.714).
The Mount heads on the road for the next two games, visiting Marist on Friday, February 2, and Siena on Sunday, February 4.
