Knights Close 2017 With Road Loss At Marywood

Scranton, Pa.  –The Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Basketball team finished off the 2017 portion of the schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 72-65 road non-conference loss at Marywood. Senior Daniel Wolff led a pair of players in double-figures with a game-high 22 points.
 
The lead changed hands three times in the early going on Saturday, with a Gerard Nocera bucket giving the Knights a 9-8 lead and an Andrew Holmes conversion gaining the Mount an 11-10 edge, following a Marywood basket, with 14:23 left in the opening frame.
 
The Holmes bucket started a quick 7-0 spurt for the Mount capped by a Tyler McDine three-pointer that pushed the Mount in front 16-10. The Knights maintained the lead until the Pacers ran off an 8-0 stretch capped by a James Curly trey to jump in front 23-15 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.
 
The Knights answered with an 8-0 run of their own to knot the score at 23-23 on a Nocera triple, but saw Marywood end the opening frame on a 12-2 run to carry a 35-25 lead into halftime. The Mount was held to just one field goal over the final six minutes of the first half, a Wolff lay-in with 2:42 left in the period.
 
The Knights converted at 37.9-percent overall in the opening 20 minutes, but hit only three of their 16 three-point attempts. The Pacers shot better than 45-percent in the first half and canned five triples with Jack DeGroot coming off the bench to lead all scorers with 13 points.
 
Marywood spread its lead out to 13 points twice in the opening minutes of the second stanza and following a Connor Bacci three-pointer that got the Mount to within eight, used a 15-6 run to grab a 55-38 lead, its largest of the game, with 9:29 left in regulation.
 
The Knights mounted a final comeback and sliced the deficit to four points with 3:15 to play, using an 8-0 run to get to within 59-55. Bacci capped the run with a three-point play and a McDine three-pointer with 70 seconds left brought the Mount to within 64-61, but the Knights could not climb any closer as Marywood hit 13 free-throws over the final three minutes to hold off the Mount.
 
Bacci scored all 10 of his points in the second half as the Mount rebounded to shoot 44.1-percent from the floor in the second stanza and knocked in seven three-pointers. Marywood hit only three triples after halftime, but outscored the Knights 16-3 from the free-throw line to earn the victory.
 
Wolff finished the day 9-for-15 from the floor with four three-pointers to go along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Bacci reached double-figures on 4-for-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds and added two steals. McDine finished off a solid all-around day with eight points, five boards and seven assists for the Knights.
 
DeGroot came off the bench to lead Marywood with 20 points with Curly adding 17 and six rebounds. Donovan Catchings contributed six points and five assists, while Thomas Swartz led the team with six rebounds and six assists.