Newburgh, N.Y. – Junior
Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) scored a team-high 20 points and was one of two Knights to score in double-figures, but the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team was upended in its season and home opener on Monday, falling to Western Connecticut 68-58.
After allowing the first six points of the contest, the Mount battled back to take a 13-8 lead after a conventional three-point play and a triple from Morton capped a 13-2 run from the Mount. The Knights maintained the lead until a Fenton Bradley bucket pushed the visitors in front 14-13 and gave them the lead for good in the game with 12:15 left before halftime.
Western Connecticut spread its lead to 26-17 on another Bradley conversion with 6:26 left in the opening stanza and matched its half-high advantage when a Jaheim Young gave the Colonials a 34-25 edge with just under three minutes before halftime.
Mount Saint Mary got back to within 34-31 at the half after scoring the final six points of the period, getting conversions from
Eli Campbell (Upper Marlboro, Md.),
Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) and Morton over the final 2:42 of the frame.
Mount Saint Mary finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 39.3-percent, including a 4-for-12 effort from the three-point range. Morton led the Knights at the break with 13 points, going 5-for-8 from the floor with a triple. The Colonials converted at 44.4-percent prior to halftime and knocked down four of their seven three-point attempts with Bradley leading the way with 11 first half points.
Coming out of halftime, Western Connecticut scored the first 10 points of the second half to surge in front 44-31. Ahmod Privott keyed the run with seven points, including a three-point play with 17:22 left in regulation time.
Mount Saint Mary was held to just one field goal, a Morton three-pointer, over the first 9:20 of the second half with the visitors ballooning their lead to 54-35 on a pair of free-throws from Wes Nelson. Millett ended the dry spell for the Mount with 10:40 left in the half on a three-pointer, but the Colonials answered back with a Privott triple to pull back in front 57-38.
Western Connecticut's lead never fell below double-figures after the opening second half run with the final 10-point advantage being as close as the Knights would get since trailing 44-34 with 6:33 left to play in the contest.
The visitors cooled to 37.9-percent shooting in the second half, but outscored the Mount 11-3 from the free-throw line after halftime. The Knights knocked down six triples in the second half, but converted just three other field goals and misfired on four free-throws.
Morton finished the night shooting 8-for-16 from the floor with a pair of triples on his way to a season opening 20 points performance. He finished off a solid night with two steals, three rebounds and four assists.
Senior
Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) opened the season with 13 points and added four assists and five steals, while
Chris Yearwood (Red Hook, N.Y.) knocked in a pair of triples for six points in his collegiate debut.
Morton, Francis and
Dominick Arcodia (Valley Stream, N.Y.) all matched the team-high with three rebounds, with
Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) blocking a pair of shots.
The Colonials were paced by 16 points from Bradley who went 6-for-14 from the floor and added six rebounds. Privott led all players with eight rebounds in the game, contributing 14 points, with Legend Johnson producing 10 points off the bench. Nelson closed the night with four assists, five steals and six points for Western Connecticut.
Mount Saint Mary shot 39.2-percent overall for the game and 41.7-percent from three-point range, while Western Connecticut converted at 41.1-percent and outscored the Knights 17-8 from the free-throw line. The Colonials finished the night with a 45-24 advantage in rebounds, posting a 14-2 edge in second chance points.
At 0-1 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Friday when it takes on Heidelberg as part of the Chuck Resler Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.
