Riverdale, N.Y. - Despite a career-high 23 points and 19 rebounds from freshman Tim Morris (Greenwich, N.Y.), the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team dropped their Skyline Conference contest with Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday, 88-87. Mount Saint Vincent's freshman Patrick Panetta (Ridgefield Park, N.Y.) hit one-of-two free throws with two seconds remaining to give the Dolphins their first Skyline victory. The Dolphins are now 4-8 overall and 1-4 inside the conference while the Blue Knights are 8-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

Trailing by eight at the half, the Blue Knights were able to tie the game at 67 as junior Alex Kuchar (Rutherford, N.J.) knocked home a jumper with 10:45 to play in the game. After seven combined scoreless possessions, junior Chris Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) would convert a lay-up with 9:12 to play to give the Blue Knights their first lead of the second half, 69-67. For the next five minutes, the Mount's lead would remain between one and four points. With 4:06 showing on the game clock, MSMC senior Jason Cardez (Ridgewood, N.Y.) drilled a three-pointer to give the Blue Knights a six point lead (82-76).

Mount Saint Vincent cut the lead back to two with a free throw by freshman Kyle Byrons (Goshen, N.Y.) at the 2:31 mark, but the Blue Knights answered with a pair of free throws from Harrison. Leading by three with fifty-six second to play, Morris seemed to put the game away for the Blue Knights as he connected on a jumper to make the score 87-82.

Dolphin freshman Dino Johnson (Amsterdam, N.Y.) took the ball the length of the floor and drilled a triple to bring Mount Saint Vincent back within two (87-85) with fifty-two seconds to go. Then, with the shot clock running down, Morris missed a two-pointer and Johnson collected the rebound for the Dolphins. He hit senior Derek Charlton (Yonkers, N.Y.) who was streaking down the left side and Charlton converted the lay-up despite being fouled on the play.

Charlton missed the missed free throw that would have completed the three-point play and given Mount Saint Vincent the lead. Morris collected the rebound and the Blue Knights called time-out to set up their last play. Following two more time-outs (one by each team), Panetta stole the inbounds pass for the Dolphins, was fouled, and give a chance to win the game from the free-throw line. He hit one-of-two attempts to give the Dolphins the lead, and after a desperation heave by MSMC fell short, Mount Saint Vincent had their first Skyline victory.

Morris shot 10-of-17 from the field and connected on 3-of-4 attempts from the line for a game-high 23 points. In addition to being a career-high, his 19 rebounds was the highest single-game total for the Blue Knights in the 2007-08 season.

Harrison finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Blue Knights, who only received scoring from five players in the game. Freshman Matt Weinberger (Washingtonville, N.Y.) had 17, Cardez had 12, and Kuchar had 13 to account for all 87 points.

Charlton and Panetta tied for the team-high for Mount Saint Vincent, each contributing 18 points. Charlton was 9-for-14 from the field and also had 10 rebounds, while Panetta shot 8-for-14 including the game-winner. Junior Joe Cooke (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and Byrons were the two other Dolphins to reach double figures, finishing with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The Dolphins shot 51.4-percent from the field in the game and 58.3-percent from behind the arc. The Blue Knights connected at 46.5-percent from the field, but only 26.3-percent from three-point land.

The first half was characterized by a twenty-four point swing that eventually left Mount Saint Vincent with an eight point half-time lead. MSMC led by sixteen (27-11) with 12:07 remaining in the half, but Mount Saint Vincent would outscore the Blue Knights 35-11 over the remaining twelve minutes.

In their next contest, Mount Saint Mary will host Farmingdale State College on Saturday, January 19 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Kaplan Center. Mount Saint Vincent hosts Bard on Monday, January 14 beginning at 8:00 p.m.