NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team (6-15, 5-9 Skyline) looked like the dominant team for much of Saturday afternoon's Skyline Conference matchup, but the Knights tailed off late, falling to the College of Mount Saint Vincent (15-6, 11-3 Skyline), 79-68, at the Kaplan Center.
The Knights' playoff chances took another hit with the loss, as Purchase College gained another game on the Knights with a win over Farmingdale State College on Saturday. Purchase now sits in sixth, the final Skyline Conference Championship Tournament spot, with a 7-6 conference record, while the Knights fall to 5-9 and remain in seventh place.
The opening six minutes of the game went completely in the Knights' favor, as they ran out to a 14-4 lead, capped off by a three-pointer by freshman guard
Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.). James Zuccaro followed with a three of his own for the Dolphins, sparking their comeback. Before long, the Knights' 10-point lead dwindled, and they soon trailed after a layup by Zuccaro, 19-18, with 7:23 left before the break. The Dolphins pushed their lead to seven points at 28-21 before the Knights turned up the heat on defense and held them scoreless for the final 2:14 of the half. The allowed the Knights to battle back into the game, as they took a 30-28 lead on a long jumper by freshman guard
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) right before the buzzer sounded.
The Knights kept the momentum rolling into the second half, as freshman guard
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) and Wolff made threes on back-to-back possessions. At the 14:05 mark, sophomore guard
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) was good from beyond the arc to get the Knights back up by six at 45-39, but the Knights could not keep control of the game, as it was soon tied, 47-47.
Antonio Johnson made a three to get the Dolphins to 47 points, and Madison Martinez followed with one of his own to give the visitors a 50-47 edge. Zuccaro then scored four straight points, and Martinez added two from the foul line to put Mount Saint Vincent up, 56-49. The Knights eventually picked up the pace, and got back within four points on a Nocera layup with 4:42 to play. A three by Johnson halted the Knights' run and got the away team back out to a seven-point lead. The Knights were unable to get closer than six points the rest of the way, as the Dolphins made nearly every free throw once the Knights were forced to foul.
Zuccaro, the Skyline's leading scorer, will hold onto his conference lead after a 28-point performance Saturday afternoon. Johnson followed with 21 points on five three-pointers.
Sophomore forward
Alex Smith (Marlboro, N.Y.) picked up his third straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday. Nocera led the Knights with 19 points on the afternoon, while McDine and Wolff matched with 12 apiece.
The Dolphins made 15-of-24 shots (62.5 percent) in the second half to fuel their comeback and push their game-rate to 51.9 percent (28-of-54). The Knights made just 38.7 percent (24-of-62) of their shots, shooting the same percentage in each half. Mount Saint Vincent also held a 36-31 edge in rebounding.
After two crushing losses in a row, the Knights will look to gain some momentum for the stretch run when they take on Sarah Lawrence College in Skyline Conference action on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
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