Men's basketball: Mount tries to keep momentum going

About this time last year, the Mount St. Mary's men's basketball team got on a roll that didn't end until the Northeast Conference championship game, reeling off nine consecutive wins along the way.

The Mountaineers take to the road coming off two remarkable wins that have them thinking maybe they are getting on a similar roll.

"The momentum is good," MSM coach Jamion Christian said. "When these guys are locked in and focused, we're as good [as] any."

The Mountaineers beat Fairleigh Dickinson 87-82 in overtime last Thursday, rallying from a late nine-point deficit to tie it up on a 3-pointer by senior shooting guard Sam Prescott with 5.4 seconds left in regulation. On Saturday, they beat LIU Brooklyn when Prescott connected on another 3, this one with 0.3 seconds left.

While Prescott was the hero, fellow senior guard Rashad Whack was named NEC Player of the Week for averaging 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals. And senior point guard Julian Norfleet averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 assists and 3.0 steals.

"[Duke coach] Mike Krzyzewski says that you're only going to be as good as your leadership. Right now we have outstanding leadership," Christian said of his trio of senior guards. "That's not [just] because they're making great plays, that's because they're doing the little things right."

Said Norfleet: "I think guys are starting to lock in. To be playing your best basketball going into the tournaments, that's what's most important."

Mount St. Mary's (9-12) is 5-3 and tied for third in the NEC. While the Mount got hot at the right time a year ago and won a pair of tourney road games before losing at LIU Brooklyn in the final, the usual path to the conference title is securing as many home games as possible.

A top-four league finish guarantees that a team will host at least one game - something the Mount hasn't done since the 2010 NEC quarterfinals.

"We're playing for a home game, that's the next step," Christian said. "The Mount hasn't had a home game in a few years. That should never happen again in NEC play. We should always be a top-four team, so that's what we're fighting for."

The Mount has eight games remaining before the tournament and begins a tough stretch Thursday night at 9 at Sacred Heart (4-19, 1-7) in a game televised on MASN and ESPN3. Five of the Mount's next six games are on the road.

While the Mountaineers have split their past four games away from Emmitsburg, they're just 2-10 on the road this season. They follow Sacred Heart with a game at Bryant (14-9, 6-2) on Saturday following the usual NEC pattern of two home games followed by two road games.

Christian said once the season begins, he breaks the schedule down into two-game increments and has high hopes for this one.

"We haven't gotten a sweep on the road yet so that's going to be a big theme," he said.

That'll be a tall order given that Bryant is one of the top teams in the league, currently in second place just one game behind Robert Morris.

But Christian said on Saturday that winning begets more winning and he's hoping to build on those two big wins at Knott Arena.

"When you think about playing in college basketball games and coaching in college basketball games, you think about playing in games like that," he said. "The biggest thing for these guys is to take a deep breath and really enjoy the feeling of winning, because the feeling of winning is so contagious."