Knights Dealt Third Straight Loss By Widener

MIAMI, FL – The Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Basketball team suffered its third straight loss on Tuesday afternoon, dropping an 84-59 decision to Widener to close out play in the HoopMIA Division III Holiday Shootout. Sophomore Kendall Francis led the Mount with a career-high 18 points in the contest.

The Knights would hold a pair of early leads in the game, but saw the Pride run out to a nine-point advantage on a Sam Smith free-throw just under seven minutes into the contest. The Knights rallied to get back to within a bucket on a Daniel Wolff layup with 7:12 left before halftime, but Widener used a 20-0 run, finally stopped by a Tyler McDine three-pointer at the horn, to carry a 49-30 lead into the break.

Mount Saint Mary went without a field goal between the Wolff and McDine conversions and saw Widener connect on three triples to open up the big halftime advantage. The Knights went 0-for-9 from the floor over the Widener run and turned the ball over twice.

The Pride finished the first half 7-for-11 from three-point range and shot 58.6-percent overall in the opening 20 minutes. Tyler Drews and Smith, who went 4-for-5 from bonus distance, led the scoring attack with 13 points apiece. The Mount converted at 34.6-percent overall and hit six first half triples with Francis leading the way with 11 points.

Mount Saint Mary would not be able to get closer than 16 points in the second half and saw Widener spread its lead to 23 points on a Ryan McMahon conversion with 14:02 left in regulation. The Mount deficit reached a game-high 30 points with 3:47 left before scoring the final five points of the contest, including a Gerard Nocera three-pointer.

Widener shot 60-percent overall in the second half on its way to finishing the game at 59.3-percent overall and an even 50-percent from three-point range. The Pride made 12 more field goals than the Knights in the game and outscored the Knights by two from the free-throw line.

Mount Saint Mary hit 11 three-pointers in the game, shooting just shy of 41-percent from behind the arc, but converted at only 37.7-percent for the game overall. The Knights were outscored in the paint 38-16 and were outrebounded 35-21.

Francis was one of two players to score in double-figures for the Knights, leading the team with his career-high point total. He went 5-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-6 from three-point range. Freshman Isaiah Robinson reached double-figures for the first time in his career with a career-high 11 points, knocking down three triples for the Knights.

Wolff and McDine each scored nine points in the game with Wolff grabbing four rebounds and McDine handing out six assists. Andrew Holmes added a pair of blocked shots and three rebounds for the Mount.

Widener showed four players in double-figures, led by a game-high 21 points from Drews. Sardayah Sambo added 16 points with Smith and McMahon scoring 13 and 12. McMahon and Sambo combined for 17 assists in the game with Smith hauling in six rebounds.

At 3-6 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will close out the 2017 portion of the schedule on December 30 when it travels to Marywood. Tip-off with the Pacers is set for 3:00 p.m.