Kings Point, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team was edged on Saturday afternoon at the United States Merchant Marine Academy by a score of 58-53, but by virtue of Maritime's victory over Sarah Lawrence have clinched the final position in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship.
Connor Cyran (Garfield, N.J.) led the Knights in the game with 14 points.
Saturday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 9-16 overall and 6-10 in Skyline Conference play, while USMMA improves to 13-12 overall and 11-5 in conference play, finishing in a tie for second place in the Skyline Conference North Division.
First Half
- Tightly contested throughout, the Mount pulled in front 14-5 on a Cyran layup just under seven minutes into the contest. The bucket capped a 10-0 run for the Knights covering nearly four minutes of game action.
- The Knights would not trail again in the half following the run and matched their half-high lead of nine points on two other occasions before halftime.
- Cyran hit a pair of free-throws with 7:27 left in the half to give the Mount a 22-13 lead and an Elijah Barnett (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) bucket with 5:30 left pushed the Knights in front 24-15.
- After the Mariners pulled to with 25-22, the Knights score eight of the final 11 points of the first half to head into the intermission with a 33-25 lead following a Brenden Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) triple with 36 seconds left in the opening stanza.
- Mount Saint Mary converted at 38.7-percent in the first half and went 4-for-12 from three-point range.
- USMMA shot 33.3-percent overall and went 4-for-15 from bonus distance.
- Cyran finished 3-for-5 from the floor with a three-pointer on his way to 10 first half points.
- Drew Zalescik led USMMA with seven points before halftime.
Second Half
- Coming out of halftime, the Knights pushed its lead to double-figures for the first time when Cyran converted a layup to grow the lead to 35-25.
- Another Cyran bucket with 16:37 left in regulation time gave the Knights a game-high lead at 39-27.
- After falling behind by 12 points, USMMA scored 16 straight points, including a pair of triples from DeMarcus Spivey, to surge in front 43-39 with 8:37 left to play.
- The Knights would not be able to recover and later fell behind by eight points twice in the final 3:26.
- A Kody Robinson three-pointer gave the Mariners a 52-44 lead ahead of a Brandon Allison lay-in that made the lead 54-46 with 2:26 remaining.
- Mount Saint Mary cut the disadvantage to three points twice in the final minute, but a pair of free-throws from Isaac Vencel gave the Mariners the final 58-53 advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary went just 8-for-27 from the floor after halftime and went without a three-pointer in 10 attempts.
- USMMA improved to 42.3-percent shooting in the second stanza and connected on four more three-pointers.
- Miles Calame (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored seven points in the second half to lead the Knights.
- Robinson poured in 10 points for USMMA after the break.
For The Knights
- Cyran was the lone Knight to score in double-figures, finishing the day 5-for-10 from the floor with a three-pointer. Cyran also contributed four rebounds and an assist on the day.
- Barnett and Calame each finished with seven points with Barnett swiping two steals.
- Jayden Figueroa (New Windsor, N.Y.) led the team with six rebounds and four assists and rounded out the day with five points and a pair of blocked shots.
- Ryan Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) chipped in four rebounds and two steals.
For The Mariners
- Zalescik led the way with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three assists.
- Robinson did all of his scoring in the second half and added two boards to his 10 points.
- Brandon Bomboy led all players with four assists, adding five points and two steals.
- Spivey connected on three triples on his way to nine points.
- Vencel chipped in eight points off the bench.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 34.5-percent and went 4-for-22 from three-point range.
- USMMA shot 37.5-percent for the game and canned eight three-pointers.
- Mount Saint Mary finished with slim advantages in points off of turnovers, 15-14, and second chance points, 13-9
- USMMA held an 8-0 edge in fast break tallies.
- Paint points went to the Knights, 30-22.
What's Next
- Both teams will be in action on Tuesday in the Quarterfinal Round of the Skyline Conference Championship with opponents and game time to be announced.
