Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team closes the season series with the United States Merchant Marine Academy Tuesday night in Kings Point, N.Y. Live Stats and Video are available for the 7:00 p.m. for those who are unable to attend.
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary looks to stop a four game losing skid on Tuesday and enters the contest at 11-11 overall and 6-8 against conference rivals. The Knights rounded out the home regular season schedule on Saturday with an 82-72 loss to Maritime in which seniors
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Mike Stoeckel (Washingtonville, N.Y.) posted career-highs in scoring.
Nicholson poured in a game-high 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting, while Stoeckel reached double-figures in scoring for the first time in his career with 12 points on a 6-for-8 effort from the field.
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) and
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) each scored 11 points, with McDine finishing with four assists.
Nocera enters Tuesday's tilt as the team's leader in scoring with 15.1 points per game and is good for 6.6 rebounds per outing while shooting 46.4-percent from the floor. Nocera is tops on the team with 25 three-point field goals and is shooting just over 40-percent on the season from bonus distance.
McDine has handed out 79 assists to lead the Knights, averaging nearly four dimes per contest, and is shooting better than 80-percent from the free-throw line in 81 attempts. Nicholson has cashed in 24 times from three-point range for the Knights and
Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) has swiped a team-high 25 steals.
The Knights currently lead the Skyline Conference in scoring defense (68.6) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.6) and stand third in the league rankings in field goal percentage defense (40.3) and free-throw percentage (72.4).
A Look At The Mariners: USMMA enters play on Tuesday at 7-16 overall and 3-11 in league play and has dropped its last two decisions and six of its last eight overall. In their last outing, the Mariners dropped a 78-55 decision to Sage in which it shot 33.3-percent from the floor. Matt Miller led the scoring attack with 20 points, with Drew Thorpe coming off the bench to net 10 points.
Miller leads USMMA in scoring with 19.3 points per game, while David Washington paces the team with 8.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per outing.
Heading into Tuesday's action, USMMA ranks last in the conference in scoring, but second in the league in scoring defense.
Last Meeting: The two teams hooked up at the Kaplan Center on January 4 with the Knights prevailing 56-50. Nocera was the lone Knight in double-figures with 14 points with Bacci pacing the team with eight rebounds. McDine rounded out the win with six assists for the Mount.
Miller led the Mariners with a game-high 19 points with Washington finishing up with 11 rebounds, six points and four blocked shots.
What's Next: Mount Saint Mary closes the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Sarah Lawrence. Tip-off with the Gryphons is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
