NEWBURGH – The Mount Saint Mary College men’s basketball team opened up its season with a home victory over Hunter College behind a career day from Justin Rivera.
Mount Saint Mary is coming off a match-up with Division I opponent Fordham University the day prior as part of a ramp-up to the Knights’ regular season. Justin Rivera, who provided a career-high 19 points, got the scoring started with 1 of his 3 three-point makes on the evening. The Knights’ first 4 makes this game would all be three pointers, as they took a 12-10 lead after a make from Rob Geremino. Mount Saint Mary found themselves trailing midway through the half, but Conor Gemmil provided points on back-to-back possessions as part of his career-high 8-point night to cut their deficit to 1. Daniel Herzner hit the Hawks’ defense with an ankle breaker, then followed it up with a fast break three.
Freshman Anthony Marzziotti knocked down 2 three pointers off the bench as the Knights tied things up 27-27. Going into halftime, the Mount would trail Hunter 35-32.
The Knights did not get off to the best start to begin the second half, scoring just 2 points in the first 7 minutes of play. They found themselves trailing by as much as 13 before a Matt Monaco three put a stop to the Hawks’ run. Senior guard Justin Rivera turned up, scoring all 13 of his second-half points in the final 10 minutes of play. An 11-0 run from the Knights cut Hunter’s lead to just 2, 47-45, as the momentum began to shift. JP Egan threaded the needle to Conor Gemmill, who finished the and-one and gave Mount Saint Mary a 55-54 lead. The Knights’ guards took over and began to play aggressively, taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls, as they went 8-9 on free throw attempts in the second half. Brenden Graham would hit a dagger three with 34 seconds left, putting the icing on the cake as Mount Saint Mary defeated Hunter College 71-58.
