Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by a double-double, including a career-high 18 points from sophomore Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.), the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team closed out the regular season on Monday evening with a 66-59 road win at St. Joseph's-L.I.
 
After falling behind 8-0 to the Golden Eagles in the early going, the Mount was unable to hold a lead prior to halftime on Monday. The Knights fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half when a Brad Weiss bucket with 10:54 left in the period pushes St. Joseph's in front 23-7.
 
Mount Saint Mary answered over the final nearly 11 minutes of the half with a 24-8 run to pull even heading into the intermission. A Fox lay-in at the 10:43 mark started the stretch and a Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) bucket in the final half minute pulled the Mount even at 31-31. The Mount held the Golden Eagles to just two field goals over the final 6:20 of the first half.
 
The Mount shot just 32.4-percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes and connected on only two of its 15 first half field goal attempts. Fox led the scoring attack with 10 points for the Knights, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor.
 
Mount Saint Mary would not be able to pull in front until a Francis lay-in at the 15:10 mark of the second half gave the Knights their first lead of the game at 39-38. The two teams would trade the lead eight times over the next nearly two-and-a-half minutes until a Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) bucket started a quick 5-0 spurt that saw the Knights move in front 49-45 with 12:54 left in regulation time.
 
The Golden Eagles answered back with eight of the next 11 points to gain a 53-52 lead on a Matthew Lavin triple with just under 10 minutes left in the second half. The Mount answered right back with a Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) three-pointer to grab the lead for good in the game. The Lucas triple started a 10-0 run for the Knights that saw them surge in front by a game-high nine points on a Fox dunk with just shy of six minutes left to play.
 
St. Joseph's mounted a final charge and pulled to within 62-59 on a Frank Basile bucket with 3:24 left, but the Mount got a layup from Morton and a pair of free-throws from Fox over the final 27 seconds of regulation to hold on for the final seven-point decision.
 
Mount Saint Mary improved to 43.3-percent shooting in the second half and held St. Joseph's to just a 32.0-percent conversion rate. Francis led all scorers after halftime with 11 seconds half points for the Knights.
 
Fox put together a career day for the Knights, finishing the game an efficient 6-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He closed out the double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with a blocked shot and a steal.
 
Francis contributed 16 points to the winning effort, going 7-for-18 from the floor, adding four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Morton added 11 points off the bench for the Knights, going 5-for-9 from the floor and adding three assists.
 
Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) led the Mount with four assists on Monday and hauled down four rebounds, while senior Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) collected seven rebounds for the Knights.
 
St. Joseph's was led by a game-high 20 points from Frank Basile who knocked down four of the team's six three-point field goals and led the team with nine rebounds. Weiss finished up with 14 points for the Golden Eagles and added six caroms.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the day shooting 37.4-percent from the floor and went 4-for-21 from three-point range. The Mount defense held St. Joseph's to 38.5-percent shooting and the Knights held the edge in points in the paint 32-20, points off of turnovers 17-6 and second chance points 15-4.
 
Monday's win moves Mount Saint Mary to 14-11 overall on the season and 11-9 in league play heading into the Skyline Conference Championship. Matchups, opponents and game times will be announced when they become available.