Mount St. Mary's Welcomes First Place Merrimack to Knott Arena on Thursday Night

Mount St. Mary's defeated Manhattan, 72-65, at home on Sunday. The Mount led all but 19 seconds in the contest, fending off the several Manhattan rallies in the second half. Luke McEldon led a balanced offense with 14 points while Arlandus Keyes added 13 in the victory. Abdou Khadre Kébé chipped in 10 points and seven boards.
Merrimack defeated the Mount, 75-65, at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass., on January 2, to snap the Mount's seven-game win streak in the all-time series. The Mount is 8-2 all-time against the Warriors, including a 4-0 mark at Knott Arena. This will be Merrimack's first appearance at Knott Arena since a 59-53 Mount victory on February 3, 2022, when both teams were members of the Northeast Conference.
Merrimack is in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 10-2 record while the Mount is tied for seventh place with Fairfield and Sacred Heart with a 6-7 league mark.
Mount St. Mary's has picked it up on the defensive end, holding the opposition to 65.3 points and 36.8 percent shooting over the past 12 games. The Mount has held the opposition to under 39 percent shooting in seven of the 12 games, including four of the past five.
Abdou Khadre Kébé earned No. 2 on ESPN's Top 10 plays with his dunk with 8:30 left in the victory over Manhattan. Kébé received the ball from Xavier Lipscomb on the in-bound, taking the ball into the paint and scoring a superman dunk while bringing the near sellout crowd at Knott Arena to their feet.
Mount St. Mary's held Manhattan to 65 points in the win on Sunday, giving the Mount an 8-3 record when holding the opposition to 70 points or less. The Mount is 2-11 this season when the opponents reach 70 points.
Arlandus Keyes leads the Mount in scoring at 11.8 points per game. Keyes has been hot of late, averaging 14.2 points over the past six games, shooting 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the field and 46.5 percent (20-of-43) from three-point range over that stretch.
Luke McEldon scored a team-high 14 points in the Mount's win over Manhattan, hitting 7-of-11 from the field in the game. McEldon leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (.610). He is 32-for-50 (.640) over the past six games.
Up next, the Mount visits Iona for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday night.