77-70

Pretty amazing stuff that the two teams we follow here on the Fan Blog, both won by the same score today.

The Mount downed Quinnipiac and Syracuse topped Georgetown.

Good wins for both and with extreme importance in both cases.

The win for the Mount gives is a lifeline to a home game in the first round of the NEC tournament. For the Orange, its a lifeline to the NCAA tournament.

The Mount is now 1/2 game behind the Bobcats for that final first round home game. The Mount has three games left in the NEC. The Mount travels to Western PA next weekend to take on Robert Morris and St. Francis (PA). The following weekend the Mount completes the three-game set at home versus Monmouth. QU still has four games to play and does have a tough foursome to play. QU plays Monmouth and Sacred Heart in Hamden before traveling to both Central Connecticut and Wagner.

Now for this game. The Mount controlled things almost from the outset. Jeremy Goode was quick out of the gates, scoring nine of the first 14 Mountaineer points. But his defenseive effort on QU standout Demario Anderson set the tone for the entire night. The much smaller good denied Anderson the basketball, and when the Bobcats tried to post him up, the Mount interior defense provided all the help it needed. Great team effort. Anderson ended up getting his points. But he wasn't really a factor. He scored 23 on 8-fo-20 from the floor, but again, the defensive effort really seemed to bother him and his teammates.

Goode led the Mount with 21 points, while Chris Vann had 20, including some key three-pointers. Goode also had six assists, while Vann grabbed a career high 8 rebounds. Markus Mitchell was also in double figures for the Mount and had a key offensive rebound basket late in the game to help preserve the win.

The Mount also got some solid performances off the bench as Kelly Beidler (7 points, 5 rebounds), Jean Cajou (7 points), and Shawn Atupem (6 points) continued to contribute solid minutes.

For much of the game it seemed as if the Mount should have been increasing its lead, and had it been better from the foul line (16-24 in the end) early, it might have stretched the lead earlier. Yet they couldn't shake Quinnipiac. Yet in the end, the Mount made the plays it needed to and came away with the good win.