Brooklyn, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team fell for the first time this season on Saturday following a hard fought 98-94 overtime defeat at St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. Four Knights combined for 83 points in the game, led by a career-high 31 tallies from junior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.).
 
A sluggish start saw the Mount fall behind 18-6 just under eight minutes into the game, before using a 17-6 stretch to pull to within 24-23 with 2:55 left before halftime. Chris Mikos (Freehold, N.J.) led the charge with eight points, while Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) chipped in five points, capping the run with a transition lay-in.
 
St. Joseph's stretched the lead back to six points, keyed by a triple from Dimitri Sirakis, before the Knights closed the frame on a 10-2 run to carry a 33-31 lead into halftime. Morton pushed the Knights in front 31-29 on the fast break with 27 seconds left and after the Bears evened things, Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) converted at the horn to give the Mount to slim halftime advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot nearly 42-percent from the floor in the opening period despite going 0-for-10 from behind the arc. The Bears hit the only three-pointer of the half, going 1-for-8 from distance before the break, but held a 14-7 advantage at the free-throw line to keep the game close.
 
A back-and-forth second stanza saw the Mount jump in front 48-43 on a pair of Francis free-throws and the Knights did not trail again until a Matt McQuillen conversion pushed the Bears ahead 51-50 with 11:52 left in regulation time.
 
The lead changed hands three times over the next 90 seconds before a Francis three-pointer pushed the Mount in front 58-53 with just under 10 minutes left. The Knights moved in front 66-57 on another Francis triple with 7:41 left in regulation and the Knights stayed in front until a four-point play from Sirakis tied things at 74-74 with 3:14 left.
 
The lead changed six times over the final 2:49 of regulation, before Sebastian Etheart split a pair of free-throws to knot the score at 83-83 following 40 minutes of play.
 
The Knights took their only lead of the overtime period on a Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) conversion with 2:04 left to play, but the Bears finished the game with 11 of the final 16 points, including an 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line in the final half minute.
 
The Mount shot 57.1-percent from the field in the second half, but saw St. Joseph's convert at a blistering 63.3-percent from the floor. The Bears converted just three field goals in the overtime period, but outscored the Mount from the free-throw line 8-3.
 
Francis continued his stellar start to the season with a career-high 31 points on 7-for-21 shooting overall, including four triples, and a 13-for-15 effort from the free-throw line. He added five rebounds and a team-high six assists on the day.
 
Sienke added a career-high 18 points, going 7-for-8 from the floor, with Morton coming off the bench to produce a career-high 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Morton contributed four assists and a rebound for the Knights. Mikos finished off his second straight game in double-figures with 12 points and four rebounds.
 
St. Joseph's received a team-high 25 points from Sirakis who led five players in double-figures. He finished up 4-for-5 from three-point range and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Etheart chipped in 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and also led all players with seven assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the day shooting 49.3-percent from the floor, but finished up just 5-for-21 from three-point range. The Bears outscored the Mount by nine from the free-throw line and made one more three-point field goal on the day.
 
At 3-1 overall on the season and 1-1 in league play, the Mount returns to action on December 8 when it plays host to Old Westbury. Tip-off with the Panthers is set for 3:00 p.m.