Kings Point, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team suffered its fifth straight loss on Tuesday night following a heartbreaking 91-81 decision at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in a key Skyline Conference contest on Tuesday. Junior Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) led three players in double-figures with 23 points.
 
After falling behind by as many as six points in the early going on Tuesday, the Knights used a 9-0 run capped by a Mike Stoeckel (Washingtonville, N.Y.) jumper with 12:56 left in the first half to grab a 17-14 advantage.
 
The Mount's lead grew to four points on a Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) triple just under a minute later and spread to 24-18 on a Jason Jones (Lansdale, Pa.) bucket midway through the opening stanza.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained the lead for the remainder of the first half and after jumping in front by eight points three times late in the opening frame, the Mount went into the locker room with a half-high 38-29 lead following a Nocera three-point play with 1:29 left before the intermission.
 
The Knights shot 44.1-percent in the first half and knocked down five three-point field goals. Nocera scored 12 first half points and Ramos came off the bench to score eight points prior to the half. The Mount Saint Mary defense held USMMA to 38.5-percent shooting in the first half.
 
The Knight stayed in front coming out of halftime until a Matt Miller conversion moved the Mariners in front 41-40 before the Knights quickly grabbed the lead back on a Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) triple. The Knights would trail again briefly at 44-43, before using a 9-0 run to race out to a 52-44 lead on a three-point play from Ramos with 10:53 left in regulation.
 
The Knights held at least a two point advantage the rest of the second half, before a 7-2 stretch for the Mariners tied the score at 66-66 on a Hunter Jones lay-in with four seconds left on the second half clock. The Jones bucket capped off a second half that saw USMMA shoot 45.5-percent overall and a blistering 60-percent from three-point range.
 
USMMA jumped out to a five points lead in overtime on a Connor Green triple and would not trail in the period. The advantage grew to a game-high 13 points on a pair of Jones free-throws with 68 seconds left as the Mariners went 4-for-5 from the floor in the extra frame and 16-for-21 from the free-throw line.
 
Jones scored 22 of his game-high 30 points after halftime on Tuesday and finished the game 9-for-12 from the floor and 10-for-12 from the free-throw line. Matt Miller scored 16 points, with Green and Eric Sobocinski each poured in 15 points.
 
Nocera scored at least 20 points in a game for the sixth time this season after going 8-for-19 from the floor, including four three-pointers. He added seven rebounds and three steals for the Knights.
 
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) knocked in three triples on his way to 15 points for the Mount with Ramos netting 13 points off the bench after going 5-for-8 from the field. Bacci closed out a strong night with six points, four rebounds and a career-high five assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished shooting just shy of 40-percent in the game and knocked in 11 three-pointers, its second highest total of the season. USMMA shot 45.3-percent on Tuesday and went 10-for-19 from bonus distance.
 
Tuesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 11-12 overall and to 6-9 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights will close the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Sarah Lawrence. Tip-off in Bronxville is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.