News Release

Newburgh, NY — Mount Saint Mary College junior guard Brandon Weldon (Elmsford, NY) rescued the Blue Knights from a late-game meltdown when he connected on a runner from the right wing with 6.6 seconds remaining in the game as MSMC (6-5 overall, 4-1 Skyline Conference) survived a furious rally by the Stevens Institute of Technology (4-6, 1-1) to hold on for a 69-65 win at the Kaplan Center.

Stevens, which trailed 65-54 with less than three minutes to play, outscored the Blue Knights 11-0 in the span of 1:56 to tie the game with 30 seconds remaining on a lay-up by Waleed Farid (Woodside, NY) right after Dennis Munch (West Babylon, NY) stole an inbounds pass. Following a timeout, the Blue Knights used up most of the clock before Weldon scored on his drive to the hoop. Then, after MSMC burned another timeout, Roberto King (Hempstead, NY) stole a long inbounds pass near mid-court by Farid and was fouled. King drained both free throws with four seconds to play to seal the game.

King led Mount Saint Mary with a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds. He also recorded his 1,000th career point with 7:14 remaining in the first half when he made one of two free throws. King, who entered the game with 991 career points, quickly converted on a lay-up only 19 seconds into the game and also nailed a pair of three-pointers in the opening 12 minutes to move within one point of the scoring milestone. He finished the game with 1,013 points in his career.

Mount Saint Mary also received a strong effort from senior center Sergio Guzman (New York, NY). Guzman had 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the floor and grabbed 13 rebounds before fouling out with 1:30 to play. Weldon added 14 points and 10 assists while Kenny Lane (East Meadow, NY) pulled down 12 rebounds. The Blue Knights played without starting point guard Mike Hoyt (Florida, NY), who was injured in the opening two minutes of a 93-62 win at Centenary College on Thursday.

For Stevens, Tim Williams (Selden, NY) led the Ducks with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor. Farid finished with 12 points and shot 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Isaac Moore (Phoenix, AZ) added nine points.

Trailing 32-29 at the break, Mount Saint Mary quickly regained the lead and maintained the advantage for most of the second half. With the Blue Knights ahead 54-51 with less than nine minutes to play, MSMC used an 11-3 run to open a 65-54 lead with 3:57 to play.

Stevens began its late-game surge when Moore made a lay-up with 2:26 remaining. Then, in a critical juncture of the game with the Ducks down 65-61, Williams grabbed an offensive rebound following a missed shot by Moore and scored on a put-back with 36 seconds to play. Munch’s subsequent steal off the inbounds pass and dish to Farid for a lay-up tied the game at 65-65.

For the game, Mount Saint Mary owned a 44-26 advantage on the boards. Neither team protected the ball well as they combined for 38 turnovers in the contest.