Mount St. Mary's Rally Comes Up Short in 69-63 Loss to Morgan State on Monday Night

EMMITSBURG, Maryland -- Mount St. Mary's saw its late rally come up short in a 69-63 loss to Morgan State on Monday night at Knott Arena. The Mount cut an 11-point deficit with three minutes remaining to one, but Morgan State was able to stave off the rally to secure the victory. Donald Carey and Junior Robinson each scored 13 points for the Mountaineers in the game.

Morgan State (4-2) held a 57-46 lead with 3:16 left in the game after a Lapri McCray-Pace bucket in the paint. On the next possession, Bobby Planutis hit a pair of free throws to begin a 14-to-3 run that cut the Mountaineer deficit to one. Carey then took control for the Mount, scoring the team's next eight points. He hit a pair of free throws to make it 57-50 with 2:46 on the clock. After the Bears hit 1-of-2 at the line, Carey drained a long jumper to make it a six-point game. The Mount drew a charge on the next possession, and Carey nailed a three-pointer with 1:29 left to make it 58-55. Morgan State's Antonio Gillespie countered with a three-pointer from the corner, but the Mount answered on the other end. Carey was fouled, and he hit the first free throw to make it a five-point game. He missed the second shot, but Planutis grabbed the rebound and converted in the paint to make it 61-58.

Morgan State's Martez Cameron then missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Carey drove to the bucket to make it 61-60 with 40 seconds on the clock. The Bears were able to answer immediately when David Syfax dunked in transition to push the lead back to 63-60. Robinson's lay-up on the ensuing possession rimmed out, and Morgan State hit six consecutive free throws to seal the win.

Trailing 32-31 at the half, the Mount took the lead on a Ryan Gomes bucket on a feed from Robinson just over a minute into the second half. Morgan State responded with an 8-2 run to grab a five-point lead. The Mount pulled within three when Greg Alexander slammed home an alley-oop pass from Robinson with 14:37 remaining, but the Bears scored the next nine points on three three-point baskets from Kyson Rawls to take a 12-point lead.

Carey scored 10 of his 13 points in the final 2:55 while adding eight rebounds and a pair of assists. Robinson stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals while Jonah Antonio and Alexander chipped in 11 points each in the loss. McCray-Pace led Morgan State with 15 points, Phillip Carr added a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds and Cameron finished with 14 points in the win.

Morgan State shot 52.9 percent from the field and was 5-for-11 (.455) from beyond the arc in the win. The Bears held a 36-to-25 edge on the boards as well. The Mount shot 40.0 percent overall and was 8-of-25 (.320) from beyond the arc.

After Morgan State opened the game with a 10-2 run, the Mountaineers rattled off a 17-to-2 run over the next eight minutes to take its biggest lead of the game, 19-to-12. Antonio's second three-pointer of the game capped the run to give the Mount a seven-point advantage. Alexander added five points during the streak as well. The Bears were able to counter the run, and held a 32-to-28 lead before Carey drained a three-pointer right before the halftime buzzer to make it 32-31 at the break.

The Mountaineers are back in action on Saturday, December 2, when Loyola visits Knott Arena for the 173rd all-time meeting between the two teams. The annual Catholic Clash is set to tip-off at 4:00 p.m.

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