Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team closes a three game home stand and looks to stop a three game losing streak on Saturday afternoon when it plays host to Maritime. Live Stats and Video will be available for those who cannot attend the 2:00 p.m. tip-off at the Kaplan Center.
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary has dropped its last three outings and enters Saturday's contest at 11-10 overall and 6-7 in Skyline Conference play. The Mount suffered a 69-56 loss to Sage on Wednesday and has not won since a 64-59 win over St. Joseph's-L.I. on January 31.
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) and
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) led the scoring attack on Wednesday with 12 points apiece, while
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished the game with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. Nocera led the team on the glass with seven rebounds and freshman
Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) collected a pair of steals.
The Knights were held to 35.8-percent shooting in the game and were outscored by the Gators 14-2 at the free-throw line and 28-20 in the paint.
Heading into the weekend, Nocera leads the Mount in scoring at 15.3 points per game and is adding 6.7 rebounds per outing. He paces the team in three-point field goals with 24 and is shooting 46.6-percent from the floor overall and just over 41-percent from three-point range.
McDine paces the team in assists with 75 and is averaging 3.6 helpers per game to go along with a 79.7-percent conversion rate at the free-throw line.
Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) has swiped a team-high 25 steals and is one of five players with at least 10 triples on the season.
Mount Saint Mary ranks third in the Skyline Conference in field goal percentage defense (39.9), three-point field goal percentage defense (30.6) and free-throw percentage (72.4) and paces the league in scoring defense (68.0).
Scouting Maritime: The Privateers have dropped each of their last four outings and enter Saturday's game at 8-13 overall and 3-9 in Skyline Conference action. Maritime lost a 95-68 decision to Purchase on Wednesday, despite 27 points on 11-for-18 shooting from Patrick MacDonald.
MacDonald is averaging a double-double for Maritime with team-highs of 19.1 points per game and 11.7 rebounds per contest. He converts at nearly 53-percent from the floor in 276 attempts and has added a team-high 38 blocked shots.
John Liccese paces the team and the Skyline Conference with 6.1 assists per outings and adds a team-high 24 steals and 27 three-point field goals. Tim Hoch shoots 41.7-percent from bonus distance for Maritime, knocking down 65 three-pointers heading into the weekend.
The Privateers rank fourth in the league in scoring with 77.5 points per game, but rank last in the league in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score better than 83 points per outing.
Last Meeting: Maritime edged the Mount 81-78 in Throggs Neck on January 7after knocking in 13 three-point field goals. MacDonald finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Privateers with Brendon Halligan adding 17 points after going 4-for-8 from three-point range.
The Knights showed four players in double-figures, led by 20 points from Nocera. The Mount shot 46.2-percent overall in the game, but went just 6-for-22 from behind the arc.
What's Next: The Knights close the regular season with a pair of road games traveling to USMMA on February 14 and to Sarah Lawrence on February 18.
