Newburgh, N.Y. – Junior Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) led four players in double-figures with 15 points as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team got back into the win column on Monday afternoon with a 71-61 non-conference win over Marywood. The win stops a two game skid for the Knights and gives them their first triumph since December 3.
 
After falling behind 6-4 in the early going on Monday, Mount Saint Mary evened the score on a Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) lay-in and later used a Francis jumper to pull in front 10-8 and grab the lead for good in the game.
 
A Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) three-pointer with 13:33 left in the opening frame pushed the Knights in front 15-10 and started a 14-6 stretch that saw the Mount Saint Mary lead expand to a half-high 26-16 on a Morton conversion with 5:32 left before halftime.
 
The Mount equaled its half-high lead with a 28-18 lead before the visitors pulled to within 31-27 on a pair of Andrew Harmon free-throws, before Ramos dropped in a layup with two seconds left to send the Knights to the break with a 33-27 advantage.
 
The Mount shot 46.5-percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes while holding Marywood to a 34.5-percent conversion rate. Francis led the Mount with 10 first half points, while Adam Boussatta led all scorers at the break with 13 points for the Pacers.
 
Mount Saint Mary never trailed in the second half and used a 17-5 run covering just over five minutes to grab a game-high 61-46 advantage with 5:02 left to play. The Knights went 6-for-10 from the floor over the run, including a pair of triples, and held Marywood to just a single field goal and three free-throws. Six different Knights found the scoring column over the deciding stretch, led by five points from Morton.
 
Marywood would not get its deficit under double-figures the rest of the way, with the Mount equaling its game-high lead when Morton converted a pair of free-throws to push it in front 71-56 with 75 seconds left to play. Marywood converted the final two field goals of the contest, including a three at the horn to get to the final 10-point disadvantage.
 
Morton rounded out the day 5-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as he matched the game-high in scoring for the Knights. He finished off a strong all-around day with seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) chipped in with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Knights, while Ramos came off the bench to produce 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting including a pair of three-pointers. Francis rounded out the quartet of double-figure scorers with 11 points to go along with eight rebounds three assists and two steals.
 
Senior Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) contributed eight points to the win and closed the day with three rebounds, four assists and a game-high six steals. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) blocked three shots and added six points and three rebounds for the Mount.
 
Boussatta led Marywood with 15 points, but was limited to just two tallies after halftime, to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Donovan Catchings matched the game-high with six steals, adding eight points, two rebounds and two assists.
 
After shooting better than 48-percent in the second half, Mount Saint Mary converted at 47.5-percent for the game, hitting five three-pointers. The Mount held Marywood to 35.6-percent shooting and outscored the Pacers 46-24 in the paint, 22-15 in points off of turnovers and 18-2 in fast break points.
 
Monday's win improves Mount Saint Mary to 2-6 heading into the New Year. The Knights continue a five game home stand and open 2020 on Thursday when they plays host to Suffolk. Tip-off with the Rams is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.