NEWBURGH, NY – Entering the game needing twenty-one points to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career, senior Chris Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) put back a missed free throw at the 2:59 mark of the second half to reach the milestone. Harrison's 21 points and 17 rebounds led the Blue Knights to an 89-78 victory over the Polytechnic Institute of NYU on Wednesday evening. The Mount improved to 4-16 overall and to 4-9 in the Skyline Conference, while Polytechnic fell to 2-18 and 2-11 in Skyline play.

Despite having just nine first half points, Harrison had a strong second half to achieve the milestone. After two missed free throws from junior Chris Kingly (Washingtonville, N.Y.), Harrison pulled down the offensive rebound and banked in an easy layup to give him 1,000 points exactly. When a timeout was called after the ensuing play, Harrison received a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd in the Kaplan Center.

The visiting Blue Jays would hold an early 9-5 advantage before the Blue Knights took control of the game. With 13:11 left in the first and the Mount trailing by one point, Harrison drained a jumper in the paint to give his team their first lead, 11-10. The bucket would jump start an 8-0 run by the Mount during which Kingly banked home back-to-back jump shots to give his team a five point advantage (15-10). The Blue Knights would lead by as many as seventeen points in the first half and carried a twelve point advantage into the break, 45-33. The Blue Knights shot 43.2-percent for the first twenty minutes, while the Blue Jays shot just 31.1-percent.

Polytechnic sophomore Arjun Ohri (Bridgewater, N.J.) came out firing in the second half and trimmed the Blue Knight lead to single digits with back-to-back jumpers. Mount Saint Mary freshman Carlos Valdez (Slate Hill, N.Y) immediately answered the mini-run with a layup of his own to push the lead back to double digits. Polytechnic would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

The Mount was led by Kingly, who scored a game-high 22 points, and Harrison, who finished with 21. Senior Alex Kuchar (Rutherford, N.J.) was productive with 18 points and Valdez registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Polytechnic was led by sophomore Anthony Mottola (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior Thomas DeMarco (Salt Lake City, Utah), who each finished with 14 points. Mottola completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Freshman Andre Robinson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.

The Mount begins a season-long four game road trip with a contest against Farmingdale State College on Saturday, February 7. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. Farmingdale won a previous meeting this season, 95-47.