Canton, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team suffered its fourth loss in its last five outings on Wednesday evening with a 75-56 road non-conference loss at SUNY Canton. Freshman T.J. Patsalos (Newburgh, N.Y.) paced the Knights with 12 points, while junior Austin Stewart (New Paltz, N.Y.) handed out a career-high five assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary never led in the game and fell behind 8-0 in the early going after a Vonallen Pickett fast break basket with 16:35 left in the first half. The Knights got on the board with a three-pointer from Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) on the next possession and later sliced its lead to three after a Mike Stoeckel (Washingtonville, N.Y.) conversion with just under seven minutes gone by in the game.
 
The Knights would stay within two possessions of the Roos until a Romario Fletcher jumper pushed SUNY Canton in front 22-14. The Roos took their first double-figure advantage of the night off a three-pointer from Kam Peterkin as part of a 14-3 run to close out the first half.
 
Patsalos accounted for the team's final field goal of the half with a layup with 2:40 left in the period as the Knights went into the intermission trailing 39-21. The Mount shot 23.7-percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including going 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
 
SUNY Canton shot better than 48-percent from the field prior to the break and canned five three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Pickett led all players with 10 first half points on Wednesday.
 
The Roos spread their lead to 42-21 on a Pickett triple in the opening minute of the second half and did not allow the Mount any closer than 15 points in the second stanza. A 10-1 spurt by SUNY Canton in the middle stages of the second half saw it open its largest lead of the game at 67-38 with 8:13 left in the contest.
 
SUNY Canton shot an even 50-percent from the floor after halftime and received 16 second half points from Pickett who went 4-for-6 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the second half.
 
Patsalos scored nine of his team-high point total in the second period and finished the game 4-for-11 from the floor with a three-pointer. He added five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Stewart led the team with five assists on Wednesday, chipping in with five rebounds and four points. Stoeckel doubled his previous career-high with eight points, adding five rebounds. Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) led the team with six rebounds and finished the night with seven points.
 
Pickett led all players in the game with 26 points for SUNY Canton with Peterkin chipping in with 11 points. Walt Jeter secured 10 rebounds and Sam Annorh handed out a game-high six assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 31.4-percent overall and went 3-for-16 from bonus distance in the game. The Knights allowed the Roos to shoot 49.1-percent in the game and saw SUNY Canton outscore them 40-24 in the paint.
 
Wednesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary 7-13 overall on the season. The Knights will continue a four game road swing on Saturday when it travels to Skyline rival Farmingdale State. Tip-off with the Rams is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Follow the Knights on Twitter@MSMCKnights