Newburgh, N.Y. – Coming off a 21 point win on the road at St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Wednesday night, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team will take on its fourth straight South Division foe on Saturday afternoon when it travels to the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Live Stats and Video will be available for those who cannot attend the 1:00 p.m. tip-off in Riverdale.
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary stopped a two game slide on Wednesday with an impressive 75-54 road win in Brooklyn to move to 10-6 overall and to 5-3 against Skyline Conference rivals. Six different players scored at least nine points in the win, led by 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds from junior
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.). Nocera finished off a strong all-around game with five assists and two steals for the Knights.
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Jason Jones (Lansdale, Pa.) each registered 10 points, while
T.J. Patsalos (Newburgh, N.Y.),
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) and Jovan Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) each scored nine points for the Knights.
Through 16 games, Nocera paces the Mount Saint Mary offensive attack with 15.4 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds per outing. He is shooting 49.2-percent from the floor thus far and stands in a three-way tie for the team lead in three-point field goals with 16.
McDine is good for just over seven points per game for the Knights and leads the way with 3.9 assists per game and an 80.6-percent conversion rate from the free-throw line in 67 attempts. McDine stands third in the conference rankings in free-throw percentage and sixth in the league in assists.
Sophomore
Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) has swiped a team-high 21 steals heading into the weekend and its tied for the team lead with 16 three-point field goals and classmate Patsalos has posted a team best nine blocks through Wednesday's contest against the Bears.
Mount Saint Mary currently leads the Skyline Conference in scoring defense, allowing opponents just over 68 points per game, and is second in the league in free-throw percentage (72.6) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.0).
A Look At The Dolphins: Mount Saint Vincent stands at 4-13 overall on the season and 2-6 in league play and is coming off an 83-69 home loss to Purchase on January 20. Matthew Sowah led four players in double-figures for the Dolphins, scoring 17 points to go along with four steals. Mount Saint Vincent shot 41.9-percent from the floor in the game, but was outscored 38-26 in the paint and 20-11 from the free-throw line.
Mount Saint Vincent does not have a player on its current roster scoring in double-figures, with Andrew Curiel leading the way with 9.3 points per game to go along with a team-high 7.9 rebounds per contest. Curiel also paces the Dolphins in assists with just over two per game and is shooting 42.1-percent from the floor overall.
The Dolphins allow opponents to shoot 41.2-percent against them, seventh in the conference, and are allowing 75.4 points per game which ranks eight in the league.
Recent History: The Knights and Dolphins have met 47 times since 1992 with Mount Saint Mary holding a 29-18 record. After winning eight straight meetings from 2011-14, the Knights have dropped the last four meetings, including a 77-58 decision at the Kaplan Center on January 20, 2016.
What's Next: Following Saturday's trip the Bronx, the Knights will welcome St. Joseph's-L.I. to the Kaplan Center on Tuesday night. Tip-off with the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
