Mount St. Mary's fell to LIU Brooklyn, 75-71, in Northeast Conference action on Saturday at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn. Freshman Byron Ashe scored a career-high 18 points for the Mount in the loss.
Ashe hit five three-pointers. Sophomore Taylor Danaher added career highs of 13 points and five blocks with Sam Prescott chipping in 14 points in the loss. Gregory Graves had seven points and 10 rebounds with Julian Norfleet adding eight points and five assists for the Mount.
Glenn Feidenga paced LIU Brooklyn with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Jason Brickman added 14 points and 12 assists.
LIU shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the game while holding a 44-to-26 advantage on points in the paint. The Mountaineers shot just 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field, and were 10-for-32 from 3-point range.
LIU (7-12, 2-4 NEC) used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take a double-digit advantage. Ashe drilled a three-pointer with 15:10 left in the game to pull the Mountaineers within three points, 47-44. The Blackbirds countered by scoring the next nine points on a run that was capped by a D.J. Griggs three-pointer and a Feidenga putback that gave LIU its biggest lead of the game, 56-44.
The Mountaineers (7-12, 3-3 NEC) fought back, whittling the deficit to 64-61 with just over five minutes left. Danaher scored in the paint with 5:27 remaining, and Norfleet scored on a floater in the lane on the next possession to make it a three-point game.
Brickman, however, stopped the Mount's run by scoring the next six points to give LIU a 70-61 lead. From there, LIU was able to close it out.
The Mount returns home to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Knott Arena. The Mountaineers lost to FDU, 85-79, in the NEC opener earlier this season.
