College Hoops: Mount Falls in NEC Title Game
By: Paul Espinosa
Updated: March 12, 2013
(Article Courtesy Mount St. Mary's)
Brooklyn, N.Y. (March 12, 2013)--Mount St. Mary's fell to LIU Brooklyn, 91-70, in the Northeast Conference Championship game on Tuesday night. Sam Prescott scored 19 points to pace the Mount in the loss.
The Blackbirds (20-13) scored the final six points of the first half to take a 35-31 lead, and ran away from the Mountaineers in the second half. LIU opened the half with a 14-to-4 run to take a 49-35 advantage, and the Mount was unable to cut the deficit under double digits the rest of the way.
Prescott finished with 19 points and five rebounds in the game for the Mount. The Mountaineers had five players in double figures as Shivaughn Wiggins (13), Kristijan Krajina (12), Julian Norfleet (10) and Rashad Whack (10) joined Prescott in double figures.
C.J. Garner led LIU, which became the first team in NEC history to win three consecutive championships, with a game-high 31 points. Jamal Olasewere added 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Mount (18-14) came out flying in a high-tempo first 10 minutes of the game. Norfleet scored the Mount first seven points before Prescott started to heat up from three-point range. Prescott drilled three three-pointers in a span of five minutes with his third triple giving the Mount its biggest lead of the half, 20-12, with 12:53 left.
LIU Brooklyn, behind the play of Garner, was able to cut into the Mount lead, tying the score at 25-25 with 9:51 left in the half. Prescott added another three-pointer, and his bucket with 4:48 left in the half gave the Mount a 31-29 lead.
The Blackbirds, however, held the Mount scoreless the rest of the half, and took a 35-31 lead at the intermission on three consecutive Kenny Onyechi buckets.
The Mount finished the first half shooting 38.7 percent overall and was outrebounded 20-12. LIU Brooklyn shot 53.8 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Game Notes: The loss snapped the Mount's nine-game win streak, the third longest since the school moved to NCAA Division I in 1988-89...The Mount was trying to become the first team in NEC history to win three straight road games to earn the championship.
