Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by 19 points from junior Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) and a double-double from classmate Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.), the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team earned a hard fought 53-49 non-conference home win over Utica on Saturday afternoon.
 
After falling behind 3-0 on the first possession of the game, the Mount used a 12-0 run covering six-and-a half minutes to move in front 12-3 with 13:12 left in the first half. The Knights went 5-for-10 from the floor over the stretch and got eight points from Nocera.
 
The Mount's lead would reach double-figures for the first time in the game on a Nocera lay-in that pushed the Knights in front 19-9 with just over eight minutes left before halftime. After Utica climbed back to within 21-16 with 3:32 left in the half, Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) canned a three to spark the Mount to a 26-20 lead at the intermission.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the first half 10-for-27 from the floor, knocking in a pair of three-pointers and held the visitors to a 30-percent effort from the floor and a 1-for-9 showing from three-point range. Nocera led all scorers at the break with 12 points, going 4-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.
 
After the Mount built a 30-22 advantage early in the second half on a Wolff layup, the Pioneers rallied with the next eight points, including a pair of Justin Strielkauskas three-pointers, to even the score at 30-30 with 16:35 to play in regulation time.
 
The Knights answered right back with the next nine points to regain a 39-30 lead with just under 14 minutes left to play. A Nocera triple and a three-point play from Wolff keyed the stretch that took 2:53 off the second half clock.
 
Mount Saint Mary did not relinquish the lead after regaining it, but saw Utica get back to within 43-42 on a Bennito Ayatza  bucket in transition, but a Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y) three-pointer that beat the shot clock with 5:49 left spread the lead back out to four points.
 
Utica clawed back to within three points with just shy of three minutes left, but the Mount knocked in a pair of fee-throws to close out their first home win of the season.
 
Nocera led all players in the game with 19 points, finishing 7-for-13 from the floor, adding five rebounds. Wolff closed out his team leading second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He chipped in an assist and a pair of blocked shots in the win.
 
McDine rounded out the day with eight points and joined Francis and the team leaders in assists on the day with three apiece.
 
Strielkauskas led Utica with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ivan Iton wrapped up the day with 10 points and eight boards.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 34.6-percent from the floor, but its defense limited Utica to a 36.2-percent showing and a 3-for-23 effort from behind the arc. Through seven games, the Knights sit second in the Skyline Conference in three-point field goal percentage defense at 30.5-percent.
 
At 4-3 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will be back in action on Tuesday when it travels to New Paltz. Tip-off with the Hawks is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.