New Paltz, N.Y. – Playing shorthanded in the opening game of the 2021 Hudson Valley Tournament, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team battled hard in a 90-80 loss to Bard Friday evening.
Chris Yearwood (Red Hook, N.Y.) poured in a career-high 21 points with
Jayden Figueroa posting career-highs in points and rebounds with a 10-point, 16-rebound double-double.
Friday's defeat drops Mount Saint Mary to 0-3 overall on the season, while Bard improves to a perfect 3-0. The Mount is now 10-3 over the last 13 meetings with the Raptors.
First Half
- Bard scored the first five points of the night and would not trail prior to halftime.
- The Knights would not get on the board until just over four minutes into the contest when Yearwood converted a layup to bring the Knights to within 5-2.
- A three-point play from Miles Calame (Staten Island, N.Y.) brought the Mount to with in 7-5, but that would be as close as the Mount would get the remainder of the half.
- A Henry Meyers jumper with 10:08 left in the first half capped a 16-6 run for Bard that pushed it in front 23-11.
- The Bard lead grew to a half-high 14 points, at 27-13, on an Elliot Harris conversion with 8:20 left in the half.
- Mount Saint Mary closed the half with the final seven points to climb back to within 35-30 at the intermission.
- Ryan Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) converted back-to-back buckets left to get the disadvantage under 10 points and Yearwood and Sienke added free-throws to close out the half.
- Mount Saint Mary held Bard without a field goal for the final 4:55 of the half.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 32.4-percent overall in the half, but went 0-for-8 from three-point range.
- Bard shot 32.5-percent and knocked in seven of its 25 three-point attempts.
- Mount Saint Mary outscored Bard 8-2 from the free-throw line.
- Yearwood matched his season-high in scoring in the first half with 10 points.
- Figueroa hauled in 11 rebounds for the Knights in the opening 20 minutes.
- Meyers led nine different scores for Bard in the half with seven points.
Second Half
- Bard spread its lead back to double-figures, at 42-32, on a Heston Tucker triple with 18:07 left in regulation time.
- A Connor Cyran (Garfield, N.J.) free-throw brought the Mount to within 43-39 with 17:03 left in the contest.
- Bard spread its lead back to double-figures on an Azriel Almodovar three-pointer with 13:41 left to play.
- The Raptors surged in front by a game-high 18 points on a Lazaros Panagiotouni three-pointer with 3:45 that pushed Bard in front 81-63.
- Following the Panagiotouni triple, Mount Saint Mary put together a 17-3 run capped by a Graham three-pointer that pulled the Mount to within 84-80 with 27 ticks left. Graham led the way for the Knights with nine points over the run.
- Bard was held without a field goal over the final 64 seconds, but converted six free-throws in the final 15 seconds to pull away for the final 10 points decision.
- Mount Saint Mary improved to 44.7-percent shooting after halftime with Graham providing the team's only triple of the game.
- Bard went 10-for-18 from bonus distance in the second half and shot better than 51-percent overall in the second stanza.
- Yearwood and Graham each scored 11 points for the Mount in the second period.
- Greg Farrow led the Raptors with nine points after halftime.
For The Knights
- Yearwood finished the finished 7-for-13 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line to go along with a team-high five assists. He reached the 20-point plateau for the first time in his career and reached double-figures for the third time to start the season.
- Graham chipped in 15 points for the Knights to go along with three rebounds and two steals.
- Figueroa reached double-figures for the first time in his career with 10 points and hauled in a career and game-high 16 rebounds.
- Cyran and Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) each scored nine points with Sienke adding eight boards and Cyran handing out four assists.
For The Raptors
- Four Raptors scored in double-figures, led by 15 points off the bench from Farrow.
- Harris scored 13 points and added three assists.
- Meyers and Parme both scored 11 points with Meyers swiping three steals.
- Eight different Raptors finished the game with at least one three-pointer.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot 38.9-percent overall in the game and finished 1-for-14 from three-point range.
- Bard converted at 41.1-percent overall and 39.5-percent (17-for-43) from three-point range.
- The Knights outscored the Raptors 23-13 from the free-throw line.
- Mount Saint Mary finished with a 19-16 advantage in points off of turnovers.
- The Knights finished with a 48-20 edge in paint points and a 32-26 advantage in transition points.
What's Next
- Both teams will be in action on Saturday at Mount Saint Mary with the Knights hosting Vassar and the Raptors taking on New Paltz. Bard and New Paltz will tip-off at 4:00 p.m. at the Kaplan Center with the Knights and Brewers to follow at 6:00 p.m.
