Purchase, N.Y. – Senior Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) led three Knights in double-figures with a career-high 22 points, but the sixth seeded Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team saw its season come to a close with a 91-74 loss to third seeded Old Westbury in the First Round of the 2019 Skyline Conference Championship on Thursday afternoon.
 
Following a back-and-forth opening six minutes that featured eight lead changes, the Mount jumped out in front 15-10 following a three-pointer from Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) and a lay-in from Dominick Arcodia (Valley Stream, N.Y.) with 12:17 left before halftime.
 
The Mount matched the five-point lead and moved in front 18-13 on a Bacci three-pointer at the 11:17 mark, before Old Westbury jumped in front 20-18 on an Andrew Buskey conversion. Old Westbury would climb in front 24-20 before the Knights battles back to grab a 29-26 lead on another Lucas triple with just over five minutes left in the opening frame.
 
Following the Lucas trey, the two teams would trade the lead four times and be tied three occasions before the Panthers got a jumper from Chase Johnson and saw Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) split a pair of free-throws to carry a slim 38-37 lead into the intermission.
 
Both teams were efficient from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, with Old Westbury converting at an even 50-percent and the Mount shooting 52-percent. The Knights went 6-for-13 from three-point range before halftime and were led by nine points each from Bacci and Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.).
 
Coming out of halftime, Old Westbury opened a 54-40 advantage with a 16-3 run capped by a Stanley Baker jumper with 14:35 left in regulation time. The Knights would get their deficit down to nine points on a Bacci triple with 12:10 left to play, but a Johnson three-pointer quickly spread the Panthers lead back to 63-51.
 
Following the Johnson triple, the Mount would not get closer than 12 points the rest of the way and saw the Panthers surge in front by a game-high 23 points when a Johnson triple with 4:25 left pushed them in front 82-59.
 
Old Westbury shot a blistering 70.4-percent from the floor after halftime and connected on five of its eight three-point field goal attempts. The Knights fell off to 39.4-percent shooting in the second half and went 3-for-12 from three-point range.
 
Bacci eclipsed his previous career-high by a single point in his final collegiate game on Thursday. He wrapped up the day 7-for-15 from the floor overall with five three-pointers, adding a perfect 3-for-3 effort from the free-throw line and a pair of steals.
 
Francis, who entered the day third in the conference in scoring average, tallied 14 points on the strength of 7-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line and added a pair of rebounds and an assist. Sienke finished up with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds while adding a trio of assists.
 
Lucas came off the bench to score nine points for the Mount, while Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) led the team with six assists, chipping in six points and hauling in five rebounds. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) contributed six points, four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Old Westbury received a game-high 35 points from Justin Alleyne-Washington who finished up 13-for-17 from the floor with four three-pointers. He closed a double-double with 10 rebounds and chipped in four assists. Johnson poured in 21 points, while Pedro Marquez led all players with 10 assists.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 45.3-percent overall and went 9-for-25 from three-point range. Old Westbury converted at nearly 60-percent from the floor and 50-percent from behind the arc. The Panthers outscored the Mount by six in the paint and by seven off of turnovers.
 
Thursday's loss finishes off the Mount's season at 14-12 overall.