Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Maritime at the Kaplan Center and then takes to the road in search of the season sweep against St. Joseph's-L.I. on Tuesday. Saturday's home tilt is set for 1:00 p.m. while Tuesday's road contest is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
 
At A Glance: The Mount enters Saturday's Skyline Conference contest at 12-9 overall and 9-7 in league play, but boasts a 9-1 record at home. The Knights have dropped their last two outings, losing to Farmingdale State and Sarah Lawrence in the last week.
 
The Knights feature a pair of players scoring in double-figures on the season, led by junior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) who is good for 19.2 points per night on 42.6-percent shooting. Francis paces the Mount with 53 three-point field goals on the season and is averaging 38.1-percent from deep.
 
Sophomore Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) checks in with 10.3 points per game and is shooting an efficient 53.5-percent from the field, with Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) good for 8.5 points off the bench for the Mount. Senior Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) is chipping in just over eight points per game for the Knights.
 
Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) is the Mount's leader on the glass with 6.4 boards per outing and has also blocked a team-high 20 shots heading into the weekend. Bacci leads three players averaging at least two assists per game with 2.7 and has swiped a team-high 31 steals.
 
Among the Skyline Conference leaders, Mount Saint Mary leads the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.8-percent) and sits second in scoring defense (67.6), turnover margin (1.38) and field goal percentage defense (40.1-percent)

Last Time Out: The Mount overcame a 19-point second half deficit on Wednesday, but could not hold off Sarah Lawrence in the closing minutes and dropped a tough 62-60 decision to the Gryphons. Francis led a trio of Knights in double-figures with 18 points.

Francis finished the night just 3-for-12 from the floor, but went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in leading the Knights with 18 points. He added six rebounds and a pair of steals for the Mount.

Fox contributed 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and closed out a double-double effort with a game-high 11 rebounds and a team-high three assists. Jaiden Melendez (Lebanon, P.A.) poured in 12 points off the bench for the Knights, knocking in two of the team's five three-pointers.

Mount Saint Mary finished the night shooting 31.4-percent overall and 31.3-percent from three-point range. The Gryphons shot 46.9-percent for the night and held a 34-18 edge in paint points. The Mount held the advantage at the free-throw line 23-12 and in points off of turnovers 20-13.
 
Reviewing The Privateers: Maritime comes to Newburgh at 5-18 overall and 4-14 in the Skyline Conference. The Privateers have dropped four of their last six overall, including an 75-59 loss against Purchase on Wednesday.
 
Alec Downes led Maritime in scoring off the bench on Wednesday as he dropped 14 points on 4-8 shooting from behind the arc. Brendan McGovern also reached double-digits with 12, while Whelan and Chris Ruscillo each tallied eight in the loss to Purchase.
 
Heading into Saturday's contest with the Knights, McGovern leads three players averaging double-figures with 16.8 points per game. Michael Walker is good for 10.8 points per night and leads in steals with 24 while Brennan Whalen leads in assists with 109. Ronan Doherty is tops on the team with 5.1 caroms per outing and Griffin McNally leads in blocked shots with eight off the bench.
 
Maritime is ninth in the conference in scoring at just under 66 points per outing and sits tenth in the league in scoring defense, allowing better than 77 points per outing. They are dead last in scoring margin, outscored by 12 points per contest.
 
Scouting St. Joseph's-L.I.: After heading to Purchase on Thursday, the Golden Eagles will host the Mount on Tuesday evening. St. Joseph's-L.I. is on a five game losing streak after losing to Farmingdale State on Saturday and enters Tuesday's tilt at 5-17 overall and 4-13 in league play.
 
In Tuesday's loss to the Rams, junior Brad Weiss matched a career-best with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field. The center also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and was credited with four blocks. Senior Mike Harris went for 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while junior Frank Basile (5-for-14 FG) and freshman Matthew Hirdt (5-for-10 FG) contributed 14 points apiece.
 
Basile leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with 20.7 points per game and is good for a team-high 9.0 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 42.0-percent from the field and 38.0-percent from long range.

Harris is scoring 13.8 points per outing and leads the team in steals with 18. Weiss is scoring just over eight points per game, hauling in better than six rebounds per outing and leads in blocked shots with 42. Doug Niblock is handing out just over three helpers per game for the Golden Eagles.
 
St. Joseph's-L.I. ranks eighth in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (44.1-percent) and ranks tenth in the league in scoring (62.9) and fifth in scoring defense (73.6).
 
What's Next: Following Tuesday's trip to St. Joseph's-L.I. the Knights hit the road once again to take on conference leader Yeshiva on February 14. Tip-off with the Maccabees is set for 8:00 p.m.