Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) matched his career-high with 17 points and led three players in double-figures as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team got back into the win column and remained unbeaten at home with a 71-50 home win over St. Joseph's-L.I.
 
After falling behind by two in the early going on Tuesday, the Mount put together a 19-3 run covering nearly eight-and-a-half minutes to surge in front 23-9. Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) started the run and evened the score at 6-6 and a Bacci triple with 8:22 left before halftime capped the spurt. The Knights went 8-for-14 from the floor over the extended stretch with Bacci leading the team with seven points.
 
The Knights' lead would not fall below 12 points the remainder of the first half and reached a game-high 22 points three times in the final 3:10 of the opening stanza. The Knights went into the intermission on a 19-9 run with a lay-in by Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) in the final half minute pushing the halftime advantage for the Mount to 42-20.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot an efficient 52.8-percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes and went 4-for-7 from three-point range. The Mount defense held the visitors to 36.4-percent overall with neither team taking a free-throw prior to halftime. Bacci led all scorers at the break with 11 points.
 
St. Joseph's started the second half with a quick 8-0 spurt to slice its disadvantage to 42-28 just 2:07 into the second half. The Golden Eagles held the Mount without a field goal in the second half until a Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) conversion just past the midway point of the half. The visitors used 14-4 run, paced by nine points from Frank Basile, to climb to within 47-42 with 7:39 left in the contest.
 
Bacci canned a triple with 7:34 left in regulation to push the lead back to eight points and the bucket started a 19-2 stretch that saw the Knights pull back in front 66-44 following a Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) three-pointer with 2:09 remaining. The Knights would match the game-high advantage a fifth time when Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) hit a three-pointer to push the Mount in front 71-49 with 21 ticks left.
 
After the slow start to the second half, the Mount was able to convert 10 field goals after halftime and hit three triples. The Golden Eagles were held to under 38-percent in the second half, but knocked in five triples.
 
Bacci rounded out the win 7-for-12 from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range. He closed a double-double also matching his career-high in rebounds with 10 to go along with four assists and four steals.
 
Sienke chipped in 14 points for the Knights and four boards, while Francis contributed 11 points and four assists. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) had a solid all-around night for the Mount, totaling eight points and matching the team-high in rebounds with 10.
 
Basile led all scorers in the game for St. Joseph's with 21 points and led the team with seven rebounds. Brad Weiss finished off the night with five blocked shots, five rebounds and three assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 46.8-percent from the floor in the contest and went 7-for-15 from three-point range. The Knights dominated inside with a 34-14 edge in paint points to go along with a 12-0 edge in transition points and a 28-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
 
Tuesday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 10-6 overall on the season and to 7-4 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a home date with the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday. Tip time with the Dolphins is set for 3:00 p.m.