EMMITSBURG - Thanks to a quirk in the schedule and a major snowstorm, Mount St. Mary's played five consecutive Northeast Conference road games. They went just 2-3 and returned to Knott Arena Monday for the first of three home games to end the regular season in need of some momentum heading into the NEC tournament.
Looks like getting back on their home court helped.
Five players reached double figures for the hot-shooting Mountaineers, who ran out to a 17-point lead in the first half, buried four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half and were never really threatened in an 88-73 win over Bryant.
"I think our guys were really excited to be back home," MSM coach Jamion Christian said. "We hadn't been home, really, in about a month. We were playing like an NBA road swing on the West Coast."
Close enough. They had been scheduled to play five out of six on the road, but the Feb. 13 home game against Bryant was snowed out and postponed until Monday.
When they finally got around to playing the game, they shot 54.5 percent, making 11 of 21 3-pointers. Rashad Whack led the Mount with 21 points and Julian Norfleet and Sam Prescott scored 16 points each. The senior trio got help from a pair of sophomore post players, as Taylor Danaher scored 13 and Gregory Graves had 10 points and nine boards.
Graves, who has averaged more than nine points and nearly eight rebounds over the past nine games, provided a spark off the bench.
"Coach always tells me, 'Just play hard. When you play hard, we play hard.' So I went out there and just played hard for the team," he said.
The Mountaineers got off to a few slow starts during their road trip but had a double-digit lead 10 minutes into Monday's game.
"It was important," said Norfleet, who became the 16th player in Mount history to score 1,500 career points during the game. "Our main focus was to continue to attack them offensively. Last time we played them, up there, we were kind of stagnant, and people were standing around. Our main focus was trying to stay on attack the whole 40 minutes."
In doing so, the Mountaineers (12-15) improved to 8-6 in the NEC. They can clinch their first home postseason game since 2009 by beating last-place Sacred Heart on Thursday.
"It'll mean everything," said Norfleet, who helped the Mount reach the NEC tournament final without a home game last season. "That's something I've never done here."
The Mountaineers still have a chance to catch or pass Bryant (17-12, 9-5) for the third seed in the tourney. Alex Francis had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Dyami Starks, the fourth-leading scorer in the NEC, finished with 13 points after being blanked in the first half.
The Mount led 11-8 when Whack buried three 3-pointers in just over four minutes, increasing the advantage to double-digits. When center Taylor Danaher finished a fastbreak with a lay-up, the Mountaineers were ahead 43-26. Bryant scored on four straight possessions to close to within 11 points, but Norfleet beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to make it 48-34.
The Mount essentially put the game away on three consecutive possessions early in the second half, when Norfleet swished a 3-pointer from the right corner, Whack hit a 3 from the left wing, just in front of Christian, and then duplicated the feat from virtually the same spot on the court to make it 59-40. Moments later, after a fastbreak lay-up by Norfleet and a 3-pointer by Byron Ashe, the lead was 24 with 16 minutes to play.
"That was all attributed to good ball movement," Norfleet said. "They couldn't contest and I think that's why those fell."
The Mountaineers got a little ragged from there, and Bryant pulled to within 75-65 with six minutes left, but Whack nailed a short jumper and Prescott scored while being fouled to put it away.
After Sacred Heart Thursday, the Mountaineers host St. Francis (Pa.) Saturday. The NEC tournament begins March 5 and, after Monday's win, there's a much better chance that game will be at Knott Arena.
"I'm really fortunate," Christian said, "to have three seniors who really value the importance of a home game."
