Old Westbury, N.Y. – Sophomore Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) led four players in double-figures with a career-high 19 points as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team swept the regular season series from Old Westbury with a 76-51 road win on Wednesday night.
 
After the lead changed hands twice in the early going on Wednesday, Old Westbury raced out to an 8-2 lead and matched the early six point advantage on a pair of Terrin Roland free-throws that gave the Panthers a 13-7 lead with 13:10 left in the first half.
 
Old Westbury maintained the advantage until a George Greene (Hanover, Md.) three-pointer tied the game for the Knights at 15-15 with just under 10 minutes remaining before halftime. The two sides traded three-pointers to move the score to 18-18 with a Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) triple igniting an 18-2 run that saw the Mount run out to a 33-20 advantage.
 
The Panthers would get their disadvantage down to nine points, but the Knights scored eight of the final 13 points of the opening stanza to carry a 41-29 lead into halftime. A pair of Francis free-throws gave the Mount their largest lead of the half at 39-24 with 70- seconds left in the period.
 
The Knights shot just shy of 48-percent from the floor in the first half and went 7-for-13 from behind the arc to build the double digit advantage. Nocera went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from bonus distance, on his way to 15 first half points. Francis used a 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe before halftime to total 11 bench points for the Knights.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained the advantage throughout the second half and allowed Old Westbury as close as eight points on four occasions. Following a pair of Alan McDonald free-throws that brought Old Westbury to within 57-49, the Mount used a 9-0 run keyed by a pair of triples from Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) and a three-point play from Francis to break open a 66-49 lead with just under six minutes left to play.
 
The Mount did not see its lead slip below 15 points the rest of the way and held Old Westbury to just a single field goal over the final five minutes. The advantage ballooned to the final 25-point decision on a Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) lay-in with 95 seconds left in the contest.
 
Mount Saint Mary held Old Westbury to 22 points after halftime and to a 34-percent conversion rate for the game. The Knights converted at 45.5-percent for the game, hitting 10 three-pointers, and outscored Old Westbury 11-5 in second chance points and 28-13 in points off of turnovers.
 
Francis finished the night 5-for-9 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line as he scored in double-figures for the fifth time this season. Nocera did not score after halftime, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
 
Bacci and Andrew Holmes (Niskayuna, N.Y.) each posted 10 points for the Knights, with Wolff rounding out the night with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Bacci led the team with three steals, while Holmes recorded a trio of assists.
 
Wednesday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 6-8 overall and to 6-3 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a trip to the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off with the Mariners is set for 2:00 p.m.