Sunday, December 02, 2007

Mount drubs Loyola

Playing for the 163rd time, Mount St. Mary's pounded Loyola College 70-58 on Saturday evening at the Knott Arena in Emmittsburg giving the Mount its first win of the season.

Sophomore guard Jeremy Goode was once again the best player on the floor, leading the Mounties with 22 points while chipping in 9 assists. He is now fourth in the country in assists per contest.

Most of the first half was a back and forth affair, with the Greyhounds leading more than they were trailing before the large crowd at the Knott. But Loyola went cold late in the half and the Mount took advantage scoring the final eleven points of the half, including a long Goode three at the horn. Loyola was scoreless over the half's final 7:16.

The Mount stormed to a double digit advantage in the second half against a team favored to do well in the MAAC. MSM scored seven of the first nine points to force a Jimmy Patsos timeout and bring the crowd into a frenzy.

Goode, just a 5-9 point guard, was routinely mocked by the Greyhound faithful that made the trip. But it was his play that made the Loyola guards look silly. He came away with a career high 7 steals and easily penetrated the LC defense, when they got back in time to play defense. The uptempo style of Loyola seemed to bring out the best in the Mount's offense and the full court defense wasn't a major factor. The Mount turned the ball over only 13 times, while forcing the opponents into 17 turnovers. Truly it was a shock that Patsos never went away from the pressure.

Chris Vann also contributed 16 points for the Mount, while Will Holland broke out of a shooting slump and knocked down 13.

Milan Brown shortened his bench only playing 8 players, and only 7 for any considerable time, and the results worked. In addition, he let Goode run the show and the kid responded.

The Mount returns to action on Monday at the Naval Academy. Loyola plays at Iona on Friday night.

Mt. St. Mary's retired the great Fred Carter's #33 at halftime. Carter who starred at the Mount before a career as a player and coach in the NBA was the first Mount player to have the honor bestowed upon him. Carter was not only the first african american player at the Mount, but the first african american student as well. He joins longtime great coach Jim Phelan on the Knott Arena wall with their numbers retired.

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