Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team finishes off a season-long five game home stand and opens Skyline Conference play this week when it welcomes Manhattanville and Maritime to the Kaplan Center. The Knights and Valiants are set to square-off at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, while the Mount and Privateers will get together for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off on Saturday afternoon.
 
At A Glance: The Knights have dropped three of their last four outings overall, including an 84-60 loss to Suffolk on January 2, to open conference play with a 2-7 record overall. The Mount's two wins on the season have come against Hartwick, 67-60 on December 3 and Marywood, 71-61 on December 30.
 
The Mount Saint Mary offensive attack is led by Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) and Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) who are good for 16.8 and 13.1 points per game entering conference play. Francis is also the team leader in helpers with 4.2 assists per game and is shooting 35.2-percent from three-point range with a team-high 25 makes. Morton is shooting nearly 51-percent from the floor for the Knights and is coming of an 8-for-8 shooting night against Suffolk.
 
Junior Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) is tops on the team in rebounding with nearly five caroms per night and is the top rim protector with better than one block per game. Fox is averaging 8.4 points per outing for the Mount while shooting just under 54-percent from the floor.
 
Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) checks in with 7.8 points per game for the Mount and is shooting 52.9-percent overall for the season, while Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) leads the team with almost three steals per game to go along with just under three assists per night. Millett contributes just over four points per outing to the scoring attack.
 
As a unit, Mount Saint Mary is scoring 64.0 points per game while shooting 40.0-percent from the floor overall, 29.8-percent from three-point range and 68.8-percent from the free-throw line.
Last Time Out: The Mount dropped its third game in its last four outings on January 2 with an 84-60 non-conference home loss to Suffolk. Morton led the scoring attack with 18 points on 8-for-8 shooting, while Fox matched his season-high with 16 points to go along with four rebounds.
 
Suffolk featured four players in double-figures, led by a game-high 19 points off the bench from Alex Jacovides. Jonathan Eng closed out the win for the Rams with 11 points, six assists and a pair of steals.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 43.6-percent from the floor overall in the game, but went just 5-for-22 from three-point range. Suffolk converted at 54.2-percent overall and 44.1-percent from bonus distance, knocking down 15 three-pointers.
 
Viewing The Valiants: Manhattanville comes to town on Wednesday with a 5-4 overall record following two losses in the College Park Holiday Inn Tournament hosted by Catholic. Manhattanville dropped the opener of the event 67-60 to the hosts, before suffering a hard fought 86-82 overtime decision to Ursinius to close the event.
 
Manhattanville features a trio of players averaging double-figures in scoring led by 15.1 points apiece from Mike Granda and JoJo Cobbs. Granda shoots an efficient 43.7-percent from three-point range with a team-high 31 makes from bonus distance to go along with 3.3 assists per game, while Cobbs converts at 45.6-percent overall for the Valiants.
 
Jake Dunn scores 11.0 points per game entering conference play for Manhattanville, with Petey Galgano leading the way with 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and nearly two steals per game for the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville is scoring just over 70 points per game on the season and shoots 43.7-percent overall, 36.2-percent from three-point range and 60.0-percent from the free-throw line.
 
Recent History: The two sides have met 40 times dating back to 1990 with the Valiants holding a 23-17 record. The Knights have won two of the last three meetings, posting a 85-78 road win on November 19, 2013 that stopped a six game winning streak for the Valiants and topped Manhattanville 73-68 last season at the Kaplan Center on November 20, 2018.
 
Previewing the Privateers: Maritime heads to the Kaplan Center on Saturday with a 4-6 overall record and a 0-1 mark in league play following a 92-79 loss to Purchase on January 4.
 
The Privateers enter the weekend with two players averaging at least 11 points per game, led by Brendan McGovern who checks in with 16.6 points per outing. McGovern has made a team-high 41 three-pointers to date and is shooting an even 36.0-percent from behind the arc.
 
Brennan Whelan chips in 11.1 points per game for Maritime and shoots 66.0-percent from the floor to go along with team-highs in assists with 3.3 and steals 1.1. Jaylin Gray shares the team lead in steals with Whelan and contributes 9.8 points per game while shooting better than 42-percent from the floor. Griffin McNally paces the team on the glass with 4.0 boards per outing.
 
Maritime is averaging 70.3 points per game as a team through 10 games and is shooting 42.0-percent overall, 33.5-percent from three-point range and 69.6-percent from the charity stripe.
 
Recent History: Dating back to 2002, the Mount has won 23 of the 33 meetings between the two sides heading into Saturday's tilt. The Knights have won each of the last four meetings with Maritime, including a 71-42 win in Newburgh on February 9, 2019.
 
What's Next: The Knights take to the road for the first time since December 11 when they head to USMMA on January 14 for a 7:30 tip-off with the Mariners.