Mount St. Mary's Ready for Opening Round Matchup with Canisius on Tuesday

Mount St. Mary's will face No. 9 seed Canisius in the Opening Round of the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday, March 12, at 5:15 p.m. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The Mount, the No. 8 seed, will be facing Canisius in the MAAC Opening Round for the second season in a row. The Mount topped the Golden Griffins, 67-66, in overtime in last year's game.
Mount St. Mary's is coming off a 96-92 loss to Fairfield on Saturday. The Mount hit a school record 13 three-point field goals in the first half to take a 54-38 lead at the break. Fairfield opened the second half on a 14-0 run to get back into the game. De'Shayne Montgomery led the Mount with 24 points while Dakota Leffew (19) and Joshua Reaves (18) also reached double figures.
Mount St. Mary's holds a 5-1 lead in the all-time series with Canisius. The teams split the series this year with each winning on their home court. The Mount won 74-69 at Knott Arena on January 5 and Canisius defeated the Mount 61-56 at the Koessler Athletic Center on March 1.
Dakota Leffew was named First Team All-MAAC on Monday. Leffew is averaging 17.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Mountaineers this season. He is the first Mountaineer to earn First Team All-Conference honors since Damian Chong Qui was named First Team All-Northeast Conference in 2020-21.
De'Shayne Montgomery was named the MAAC's Rookie of the Year on Monday. Montgomery is averaging 12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals on the season. He is just the fourth Mountaineer to win a conference Rookie of the Year award, joining Vado Morse (2018-19), Shivaughn Wiggins (2012-13) and Chris McGuthrie (1992-93), who were all named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year.
With a win, the Mount will advance to the MAAC Quarterfinals to face No. 1 seed Quinnipiac at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall