Newburgh, N.Y. – Playing at the Kaplan Center for the first time since February 18, 2020, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team suffered a hard fought 75-68 non-conference loss to Lehman on Tuesday in both team's season opener.
Ryan Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) closed his first collegiate contest with a team-high 17 points for the Knights.
Tuesday's loss sees the Mount fall to 0-1 on the season while Lehman begins the 2021-22 season at 1-0.
First Half
- Lehman opened an early 9-3 lead following a pair of Gian Batista free-throws just over three minutes into the contest.
- The Knights would trail by as many as nine points after a Marquese Johnson bucket with 7:56 left before halftime that pushed the Lightning in front 25-16.
- Mount Saint Mary battled back with an 11-2 spurt that knotted the score at 27-27. Graham hit a pair of triples over the run and Miles Calame (Staten Island, N.Y.) tied the score with a three-pointer of his own with 4:17 left in the half.
- The Knights grabbed their first lead of the game when Graham converted a jumper with 33 seconds left in the half to push the Knights in front 33-31.
- Lehman responded with a Batista bucket in the closing seconds to send the teams into the break knotted at 33-33.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 38.5-percent overall from the floor and went 4-for-17 from three-point range prior to halftime.
- Lehman converted at 37.1-percent overall and connected on just one of its 10 three-pointers.
- Graham netted 12 points in the first half on 4-for-7 shooting, including a pair of triples.
- Batista led all scorers at the break for Lehman with 15 points, adding five first half assists.
Second Half
- Lehman came out of the break and opened a 38-34 lead, getting a three-pointer from Isaiah Geathers and a lay-in from Will Feldman.
- Once it grabbed the lead, the Lightning would not relinquish it the rest of the way.
- The Lightning lead grew to 61-51 on a Gaethers three-point play with 7:50 left in regulation.
- After falling behind by 10, the Knights mounted one more charge and battled back to within 61-60 with a 9-0 run. Connor Cyran (Garfield, N.J.) capped the run with a three-pointer with 5:53 left to play.
- Gaethers stopped the run with a three-pointer and his fourth triple of the second half spread the Lightning lead out to 69-62 with 4:13 left.
- The Knights would claw back to within five, but Lehman knocked in four free-throws in the final 16 seconds to close out the win.
For The Knights
- Graham finished the night 5-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 5-for-8 from the free-throw line on his way to 17 points. He added two rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Knights.
- Chris Yearwood (Red Hook, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and a pair of assists.
- Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) and Jayden Figueroa (Ne Windsor, N.Y.) led the team with eight rebounds apiece with Sienke adding eight points and Figueroa posting seven tallies.
- Cyran chipped in nine points and five rebounds.
- Mike Dedda (West Chester, Pa.) led the team with four assists to go along with six rebounds and two steals.
For The Lightning
- Gaethers led all players with 29 points, going 11-for-19 from the floor and 5-for-17 from three-point range.
- Gaethers scored 23 points after halftime on 9-for-15 shooting and a 4-for-5 effort from three-point range.
- Batista closed a big night with 19 points and 10 assists.
- Mo Idrissou led the team with nine rebounds and chipped in eight points.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot 38.3-percent from the floor overall and 25-percent from three-point range (8-for-32).
- Lehman converted at 41.8-percent overall and 31.6-percent from three-point range.
- Lehman closed the night with a 24-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
- Points in the paint went to Lehman 38-26.
- Fast Break points in the game were even at 26-26.
What's Next
- Mount Saint Mary travels to Western Connecticut for a Saturday afternoon contest in Danbury.
- Lehman heads north to take on Regis in the opener of the Southern Maine Tip-off Tournament.
