Emmitsburg, Md. (February 8, 2024)--Mount St. Mary's stretched its win streak to three with an 82-78 win over Manhattan at Knott Arena on Thursday night. The Mount withstood a furious late Manhattan rally to secure the victory.
Dakota Leffew led five Mountaineers in double figures with 20 points while
Joshua Reaves added 15 in the victory. The Mount improves to 10-13 overall and 6-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with the victory.
Leading 39-33 at the half, the Mount scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 14-point advantage. Reaves sparked the run with a three-pointer with
Dola Adebayo scoring the next five for a 47-33 advantage. The Mount was able to maintain the double-digit lead, pushing the lead to 20 on a Leffew drive with 5:08 on the clock. The Mount held a 73-58 lead with just under three minutes left when
Ronald Jessamy hit 1-of-2 at the line. The Jaspers (5-16, 2-10 MAAC) scored the next eight points, capped by a Logan Padgett three-pointer, to cut the Mount's advantage to 73-65.
The Mount was able to stretch the lead back to 12 after a pair of Leffew free throws with 1:11 on the clock, but Manhattan continued to surge, making it a four-point game after a Wesley Robinson traditional three-point play with 36 seconds left. Adebayo connected on a pair of free throws, but Robinson was fouled with 13 seconds left, and he hit both to make it 81-77. The Mount then turned the ball over, and Briggs McClain was fouled with 10 seconds on the clock. He hit the first to cut the Mount's lead to three, but was off the mark on the second. Reaves collected the rebound, and was fouled with 7.7 seconds remaining. Reaves missed the first, but connected on the all-important second free throw to put the Mount ahead, 82-78. On the next possession,
Jedy Cordilia blocked Manhattan's three-point attempt to seal the win.
Leffew finished the game with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, hitting 7-of-14 from the field en route to his 11th 20-point game of the season. Reaves hit 4-of-6 from three-point range en route to his 15-point night, while Jessamy,
Terrell Ard, Jr., and Adebayo each finished with 11 points. Ard, Jr., added a team-high seven rebounds with Adebayo and Jessamy collecting six each. The Mountaineers shot 50.9 percent from the field in the victory while shooting just 7-of-28 (.250) from three-point range. Daniel Rouzan and Jaden Winston each scored 12 for Manhattan in the loss with Seydou Traore and McClain adding 11 each. Manhattan shot 43.3 percent in the game, including 9-of-27 (.333) from beyond the arc.
Ard., Jr. scored all 11 of his points in the first half to help the Mount take a 39-33 lead at the intermission. He scored four points during a 10-to-2 Mount run that snapped a 22-22 first-half tie. Manhattan fought back to cut the Mount's lead to 35-33, but Jessamy scored the next four points to give the Mount the six-point halftime lead.
Up next, the Mount welcomes MAAC leader Quinnipiac to Knott Arena for a 4:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday, February 10.
