Blue Knights Are Topped At Mount Saint Vincent

RIVERDALE – Elijah Barnett led the scoring attack with 16 points and Jayden Racca produced a career-high 14 points, but the Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Basketball team was unable to secure its second straight win following a tough 69-63 Skyline Conference defeat at the College of Mount Saint Vincent Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 5-11 overall on the season and to 2-5 in conference play, while Mount Saint Vincent improves to 6-8 overall and 2-3 against league rivals.

First Half
The opening 20 minutes was tightly contested with the two sides entering the intermission deadlocked at 27-27.

Barnett opened the scoring with a lay-in 17 seconds into the tilt, but following four straight points from the Dolphins, the Knights would not lead again until late in the half.

Mount Saint Vincent grew its lead to eight points on a D.J. Tucker bucket with 13:03 left before halftime.

Sean Goodwin pushed the Dolphins in front by a half-high nine points with a jumper that made the score 22-13 with just over nine minutes left in the half.

The Knights rallied with the next seven points, including a three-pointer from Chris Yearwood, that got the Mount to within 22-20 with 4:57 remaining in the opening period.

After a Haven Smith jumper gave the Dolphins back a four point edge, the Knights got a three-pointer from Matthew Walsh and a pair of free-throws from Brenden Graham to take a 25-24 lead, its first advantage since the early 2-0 edge.

Mount Saint Vincent retook a 27-25 lead on a Dan Porcic triple, but Justin Rivera converted a layup with 21 seconds left in the period to send the two teams to the break on even terms at 27-27.

Mount Saint Mary shot 40.9-percent overall in the first 20 minutes and went 3-for-8 from three-point range.

Mount Saint Vincent was held to 35.3-percent shooting, but made three more field goals than the Knights before halftime.

Racca led the Knights at the break with seven points.

Porcic led all scorers at halftime with eight first half tallies for the Dolphins.

Second Half
Mount Saint Mary opened the second half with the first four-points to jump in front 31-27 on a Barnett conversion in the opening minute of the period.

After the Dolphins regained a 35-33 lead, the Knights ripped off the next 10 points, highlighted by triples from Barnett and B. Graham, to take their largest lead of the game at 43-35 with 14:10 left.

The Dolphins hit back with the next eight points to knot the score before pulling back in front 46-45 on a Porcic three-pointer.

Connor Cyran converted a three-point play to bring the Mount back even at the 10:18 mark, but a Brian Rawlings bucket gave the Dolphins a 50-48 advantage and the lead for good in the contest.

The Mount Saint Vincent lead grew to eight points on a pair of Joshua Cabezudo free-throws with 6:33 left to play and reached 67-58 on a Jalen Lewis dunk in the final minute.

The Knights cut the disadvantage to five points on a Barnett three-pointer, but a Dillon Hod free-throw in the closing seconds gave the Dolphins the final 69-63 decision.

Mount Saint Mary shot 39.4-percent from the floor after halftime and went 3-for-11 three-point range.

Mount Saint Vincent converted at 38.7-percent overall and knocked down five triples.

Mount Saint Vincent outscored the Knights 13-7 from the free-throw line after halftime.

Barnett scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half.

Cabezudo led the Dolphins with 12 second half points.

For The Knights
Barnett led the way for the Knights with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including a pair of triples. He added five rebounds and a blocked shot.

Racca came off the bench to net a career-high 14 points, going 6-for-13 from the floor to go along with five rebounds.

Cyran chipped in 11 points and closed a double-double with 12 rebounds. Cyran finished off a strong all-around game with four assists and two steals.

Yearwood rounded out the day with eight points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

For The Dolphins
Cabezudo and Porcic joined Barnett in matching the game-high with 16 points. Porcic knocked down four three-pointers with Cabezudo posting five assists and two steals.

Tucker wrapped up the win with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Lewis blocked three shots for the Dolphins.