Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team remained unbeaten at home on Saturday with a hard fought 71-63 Skyline Conference victory over visiting College of Mount Saint Vincent. Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) led a balanced scoring attack with 21 points.
 
Mount Saint Mary led the majority of the opening period on Saturday and used a 22-9 run covering better than nine minutes to open its largest lead of the game at 27-13. Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) started the run and pushed the Mount in front 7-4 with 16:29 left in the half and it was capped by a three-pointer from Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) with 7:37 left before halftime. The Mount went 8-for-14 over the run with Sienke leading the charge with nine points.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained at least a two possession advantage until a Makai Johnson triple got the Dolphins to within three points with 2:06 left before halftime. A Vinny Tavella tip-in with 1:10 left in the period brought the visitors to within one and another triple from Johnson in the final minute gave Mount Saint Vincent its first lead of the day and sent it to the intermission with a 33-31 advantage.
 
The Knights finished the half shooting 46.2-percent overall, but knocked in just two of their eight three-point attempts prior to halftime. The Dolphins shot 43.3.-percent and an even 50-percent from bonus distance and used a 20-4 run, holding the Knights to just five field goal attempts over a six-and-a-half-minute stretch, to surge in front at the break.
 
Coming out of halftime the two teams traded baskets and after the Dolphins grabbed a 35-33 lead, the Mount put together a quick 11-0 run that saw it move back in front 44-35. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) led the Knights over the stretch with five points.
 
After grabbing the lead early in the second half, the Mount would not trail again. The Dolphins strung together a 10-4 run to knot the score at 54-54 with 6:35 left in regulation, but the Mount countered with a three-pointer from Francis that gave the Knights the lead for good in the game and a second triple that spread the lead to 63-57 with just over four minutes left to play. The visitors would get as close as two points, but could not pull even again in the contest.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot an efficient 53.6-percent in the second half and held Mount Saint Vincent to just under 26-percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. Francis finished 7-for-11 from the floor in the second half and led all players with 19 points after halftime.
 
After being held to just one basket before halftime, Francis knocked in three triples in the second half on his way to the game-high point total. He rounded out the day 8-for-14 from the floor, adding two rebounds and four assists.
 
Sienke scored 12 points for the Mount, while Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) and Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) each finished with eight. Fox rounded out the day with five points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Mount Saint Vincent was led by 15 points off the bench from Kalos Evans, with Claudio Nmezi finishing off a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Johnson and Raiquis Harris combined for 23 points and Mamadou Mariko led all players with three blocks.
 
The Knights converted at an even 50-percent for the game and held the visitors to 33.8-percent shooting. The Knights used a 26-10 edge in transition points to secure the win to go along with a 38-26 edge in paint points.
 
At 11-6 overall and 8-4 in Skyline Conference play, Mount Saint Mary hits the road on Thursday for a road contest at Purchase. Tip-off with the Panthers is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.