Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) matched his season-high with 31 points and junior Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) added 20 tallies off the bench as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team held off Sarah Lawrence 82-72 in overtime on Tuesday. Prior to the home finale, the Mount honored Francis, Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) and Jovin Ramos (Secaucus, N.J.) on Senior Night.
 
The Mount got out to an early five-point lead on Tuesday following triples from Francis and Ramos and after falling behind 10-8 in the early going, ran off eight straight points to pull in front 16-8 on a Zack Swaby (New Windsor, N.Y.) free-throw with 12:09 left before halftime.
 
The Mount allowed Sarah Lawrence to climb back to within a point on a Luke O'Connor triple with 8:11 left before the break, but used another 8-0 spurt to grab a 27-18 advantage on a Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) lay-in with just under six minutes left in the half.
 
The Knights equaled their half-high advantage on a Isaiah Robinson (Garfield, N.J.) conversion with 3:40 left before the Gryphons ripped off nine straight points to even the score at 29-29 on a B.J. Saunders dunk with 1:12 left. Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.) answered with a three-pointer for the Mount with 54 ticks remaining before halftime to send the Knights to the locker room with a 32-29 advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot just under 43-percent in the first half overall and hit on five of its 12 three-point attempts. Sarah Lawrence shot just shy of 42-percent overall and knocked in four triples before the break. Francis led the Mount with 14 first half points with Omar Jamaleddine scoring 13 points to pace the Gryphons.
 
Mount Saint Mary trailed twice briefly in the second half, once on a Jamaleddine triple that pushed Sarah Lawrence in front 43-42 with 15:51 left in regulation and then again on a Liam Barry bucket that gave the Gryphons a slim 45-44 lead just under two minutes later.
 
Mount Saint Mary answered with the next seven points, including a Francis triple, to take back a 51-45 lead and maintained the advantage in the second half until the final second of regulation time.
 
The Mount held a lead of eight points on three occasions in the final eight minutes, but Sarah Lawrence methodically sliced into the lead until tying the score with a second left in regulation. An Enike Anyia layup with 11 seconds left brought the Gryphons to within 73-70 and after a missed free-throw, Jamaleddine knotted the score at 70-70 with a straight on three-pointer just before the horn.
 
After seeing the Gryphons storm back to tie the score, the Mount tallied the first seven points of overtime to pull away for their second straight win. Morton keyed the run with a lay-up and a three-pointer that gave the Knights a 77-70 lead halfway through the overtime period.
 
Sarah Lawrence would never get closer than five points in the extra frame and a pair of Morton free-throws in the final 20 seconds gave the Mount the final 10-point advantage, its largest lead of the night.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 45.2-percent after halftime and hit on half of its 12 three-point field goal attempts. Sarah Lawrence shot just over 48-percent, hitting six three-pointers. Francis scored 17 points after the break on 6-for-8 shooting, while Barry scored 22 points for the Gryphons after halftime, going 8-for-11 from the floor.
 
Francis matched his season-high with 31 points in the win, finishing the night 11-for-15 from the floor overall and 5-for-6 from three-point range. He finished the night with six rebounds, matching the team-high in the category, two assists and seven steals.
 
Morton reached 20 points in a game for the second time this season and for the first time since the season opener on Tuesday. He knocked down a trio of three-pointers for the Knights and went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line to go along with five rebounds and three steals.
 
Ramos reached double-figures for the fourth time this season with 10 points, hitting a pair of triples and adding two assists. Fox joined Francis with six rebounds in the game, adding seven points with Sienke chipping in six points, three rebounds and two steals.
 
Jamaleddine rounded out a big night for the Gryphons with a team-high 28 points and a game-high 21 rebounds. He finished off the night with three assists, three blocks and a steal. Barry scored each of his 22 points after halftime with Anyia chipping in 11 points and three rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary closed the game shooting an even 46-percent and connected on a season-high 12 three-point field goals, shooting 48-percent from long distance. Sarah Lawrence shot 39.1-percent for the night hitting 10 triples. Mount Saint Mary held a convincing 30-16 advantage in points off of turnovers and outscored the Gryphons 38-4 in transition.
 
Tuesday's win improves The Mount's overall record to 8-16 and its league mark to 6-9. The Knights round out the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Purchase for a 12:00 p.m. tip-off with the Panthers.