Rochester, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team opened played at the Chuck Resler Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester with a 72-61 loss to Heidelberg. Senior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) led the Mount with 25 points.
 
In a back-and-forth first half, the Knights jumped out to an 8-3 lead following a three-point play from Francis. The Mount would not trail in the period until a pair of Emmanuel Purdue free-throws pushed Heidelberg in front 15-14 with 9:36 left before halftime.
 
The Purdue free-throws started a 7-0 run that saw the Student Princes surge in front 20-16 on a Dylan Woods triple with 8:15 left in the half. From there Heidelberg scored just five more points in the half, as the Mount finished the period on a 13-5 spurt. Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) sparked the closing run with eight points for the Knights.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 33.3-percent overall prior to halftime despite a 1-for-13 effort from three-point range. Sienke led eight different scorers for the Knights with eight points. Heidelberg knocked in three triples prior to the break and shot 37.5-percent for the half with Perdue leading the way with eight points.
 
Coming out of halftime, Francis canned a three-pointer to push the Mount in front 32-25 and the Knights would not trail until Phariz Watkins three-point play gave Heidelberg a 42-40 advantage. The Student Princes would not trail again after gaining the lead just 5:55 into the second half.
 
After falling behind by as many as five points, the Knights got things even at 50-50 on an Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) free-throw, but Heidelberg answered with an 8-1 spurt to take the lead for good in the game. The Mount battled back to within 61-56 on a Fox three-point play, but the Student Princes closed the game on an 11-5 run, knocking in six free-throws over the final four minutes.
 
Heidelberg shot a blistering 63.6-percent (7-for-11) from behind the arc after halftime and improved to 42.3-percent from the floor overall in the second half. Woods erupted for 21 second half points, going 6-for-8 from the field and 5-for-6 from bonus distance.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the second half shooting 38.5-prercent, knocking down five triples, with Francis canning five three-pointers on his way to 18 points after the break.
 
Francis reached the 20-point plateau for the first time this season after finishing the day 6-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-8 from three-point range. Francis connected on eight of his 10 free-throws and finished the day with a team-high five assists to go along with eight rebounds and a steal.
 
Sienke scored in double-figures for the first time this season with 14 points, chipping in six rebounds and a trio of assists. Fox tallied eight points for the Mount and hauled in four rebounds, while 5Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) equaled the team-high with eight boards.
 
Heidelberg was led by a game-high 27 points from Woods who finished 8-for-11 from the field and 7-for-9 from behind the arc. Perdue came off the bench to score 17 points with Prince Benson producing nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Tamal Watkins rounded out the win with seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Heidelberg shot an even 40-percent for the game and converted at 45.5-percent from three-point range. The Knights converted at 35.7-percent overall, but just 20-percent from three-point range. The Knights turned Heidelberg over 17 times and turned those into 14 points and added 28 paint points and 26 fast break tallies.
 
Friday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 0-2 overall on the season. The Knights will close the tournament Saturday afternoon when they take on either Rochester of Misericordia at 3:00 p.m.