Kings Point, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team suffered its second straight Skyline Conference road loss on Saturday following a 62-53 defeat at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Junior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) was the lone player in double-figures for the Knights with 15 points.
 
Tightly contested throughout, the Mount jumped in front by as many as four points in the early minutes, before the Mariners grabbed their first lead at 10-9 on a David Washington bucket with 10:59 left before halftime.
 
The Mount got the lead right back on a Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) bucket that started a 10-2 spurt for the Mount. A triple from Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) with 4:53 left in the first half capped the run and gave the Mount its largest lead of the half at 21-12.
 
The Mariners climbed back to within a single point on a Connor Green conversion later in the opening period, but an Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) lay-in and a three-pointer from Jaiden Melendez (Lebanon, Pa.) in the closing seconds of the period sent the Mount into the intermission with a 28-22 advantage.
 
The Knights shot 42.9-percent in the opening period and held USMMA to 31-percent shooting over the opening 20 minutes. The Knights hit four triples in the first half and held the Mariners to 2-for-13 shooting from long range, with Francis leading the team at the break with seven points. Washington led all players at the intermission with 10 points.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained the lead in the second half and held an advantage of as many as seven points on three occasions before an 18-7 stretch from USMMA saw it surge in front 54-47 with 1:56 left in the contest. Washington got the game even at 45-45 with a bucket at the 4:38 mark and Green pushed the Mariners in front for good in the game with a free-throw with 4:17 left.
 
The Mount would climb back to within a single point on a pair of Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) free-throws with 2:54 left, but the Mariners knocked in eight of their 10 free-throws down the stretch to extend the lead to the final nine-point advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary cooled to 28-percent shooting after halftime and saw USMMA shoot an even 50-precent from the floor. The Mariners hit five triples in the second half and outscored the Mount by three from the free-throw line.
 
Francis finished the contest 5-for-12 from the floor, including a pair of triples, and closed out a double-double with a career-high 10 rebounds. Lucas finished with seven points, while a quartet of players recorded six points, including Fox who hauled in six rebounds and Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) who led the team with five assists.
 
Washington led a trio of Mariners in double-figures with 16 points, adding a game-high 16 rebounds and a trio of blocked shots. Green contributed 12 points and James Walsh chipped in 10 points and three steals.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 35.8-percent from the floor and 23.8-percent from three-point range. USMMA finished up at 39.2-percent and 30.4-percent from long range. The Mariners outscored the Mount by five from the free-throw line and controlled second chance points 11-4.
 
Saturday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 9-6 overall on the season and to 6-4 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a home date with St. Joseph's-L.I. on Tuesday. Tip time with the Golden Eagles is set for 8:00 p.m.