Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team begins the 2017-18 season on Wednesday night on the road at Penn State-Abington. Tip-off with the Nittany Lions is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. with Live Stats and Video available for those who cannot attend the contest.
 
A Look At The Knights: Mount Saint Mary posted a 12-12 overall record and a 7-9 mark in Skyline Conference play a season ago. The Mount returns its top three scorers from last year's team, led by Second Team All-Skyline Conference selection Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.).
 
Mount Saint Mary welcomes back 13 players from last season's squad and brings back better than 81-percent of its scoring, including both Nocera and fellow senior Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) who both scored north of 200 points a season ago.
 
Backcourt: a crowed position group welcomes back nine returning players and a pair of talented newcomers for the upcoming season. The backcourt is headlined by McDine who was one of three players to start all 24 games last season. He averaged nearly four assists per game, handing out 86 helpers, and finished the year averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting nearly 81-percente from the free-throw line.
 
Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) appeared in each of the team's 24 games last season, making a pair of starts, and rounded out his second collegiate season averaging just over five points per game and shooting 71.4-percent from the free-throw line. He hit 21 three-pointers for the Knights, handed out 36 assists and swiped 27 steals.
 
Senior Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) was limited to 13 games as a junior due to injury, but scored 11.5 points per game while active, shooting 47-percent from the floor. Wolff was good for just over eight rebounds per game.  Classmate Andrew Holmes (Niskayuna, N.Y.) appeared in 24 games and posted 4.7 points and nearly three rebounds per outing as a junior.
 
Mount Saint Mary welcomes back five sophomores in the backcourt with Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) leading the way with 18 games played and 4.7 points per contest. Also back for the Knights are Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.), Jameson Morton (Shandaken, N.Y.), Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) and George Greene (Hanover, Md.).
 
Isaiah Robinson (Garfield, N.J.) and Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) join the fold in 2017-18 looking to make immediate contributions. Robinson was a Second Team All-Conference selection at DePaul Catholic, while Lucas was a member of the Sparta High squad.
 
Guard/Forward: Nocera will be joined by newcomer Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) at the guard/forward position in 2017-18. Nocera, the Mount's lone All-Conference selection last season, led the team in scoring at just under 16 points per game and hauled in nearly seven boards per contest. Nocera shot 46.8-percent from the floor as a junior and an even 40-percent from three-point range.
 
Sienke joins the Knights out of the Blue Ridge School where he was an All-Met Honorable Mention selection and member of the 2015 Virginia State Champion team.
 
Frontcourt: The Knights return three players in the front court, led by junior T.J. Patsalos (Newburgh, N.Y.). Patsalos appeared in 21 games as a sophomore a season ago and was good for 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while leading the team in blocked shots with 11.
 
Jason Jones (Lansdale, Pa.) was limited to 18 games due to injury, but finished the season averaging 4.3 points and 4.0 rebounds, and converted nearly 91-percent of his free-throw opportunities. Angelo Curro (LaGrange, N.Y.) is back after appearing in six games in 2016-17.
 
Freshmen Dominick Arcodia (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) join the mix in 2017-18, adding size and skill to the Mount's front line. Arcodia was an All-League selection as a senior at Valley Stream South, while Fox was an All-SCC Second Team pick at Mark T. Sheehan High School.
 
The Schedule: After opening on the road on November 15, the Mount will play its next three games at home, including conference clashes with Purchase and Yeshiva. The Knights take on Chapman and Widener in mid-December in Miami, Fla. as part of HoopMIA Shootout before starting the new year with three straight home contests. The Mount plays 11 games in Newburgh during the regular season, but finishes the season with five of its final six games on the road.
 
What's Next: The Knights open a three game home stand leading into Thanksgiving on November 21 against Potsdam. The home stand continues on November 28 against Purchase and concludes on November 30 against Yeshiva.