DAYTON, Ohio - Mount St. Mary's coach Jamion Christian stood at the foul line and applauded as his Mountaineers left the floor for the final time this season, stopping to embrace senior Sam Prescott, who lingered on the court not wanting his NCAA tournament experience, or his college career, to end.
In a wacky game to open the tournament, the Mount survived a horrendous start and dug out from a 19-point deficit to take the lead, but went cold again at the most critical time and lost 71-64 to Albany Tuesday night at the University of Dayton Arena.
"It's been a great ride," Prescott said.
Seniors Rashad Whack and Julian Norfleet missed potential tying 3-pointers in the final 36 seconds, and the Great Danes clinched their first-ever NCAA win and a spot as the No. 16 seed in the South Region against top-seeded Florida by nailing four straight free throws.
Christian said he was proud of the way his team pulled together after a stunningly bad start.
"A lot of credit goes to the guys on the floor and our program, just having enough character to be able to take their punch at the beginning," said Christian, whose Mountaineers finish 16-17. "A lot of teams would've folded."
Freshman Will Miller scored all of his career-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers, getting the Mountaineers back in the game after they fell behind 21-2 in the opening minutes, and keeping them in the game when everyone else went cold in the second half. The 21 points matched the most points ever scored by a Mount player in the NCAA tournament and his seven 3s set a team tourney record.
The senior trio of Norfleet, Prescott and Whack, who scored nearly 4,000 points during their college careers, combined to go 13 for 44 from the field, including 5 for 25 on 3-pointers. Whack finished with 16 points, Prescott 14 and Norfleet had seven along with seven assists.
"It was a little surprising being that we shot the ball so well the last three games," Norfleet said, referring to their run to the Northeast Conference tournament title
D.J. Evans had 22 points and Peter Hooley 20 to lead the Great Danes (19-14), who got 13 rebounds from physical forward Sam Rowley.
It was the Mount's fourth appearance in the Division I NCAA tourney, the first time they have not been ousted by a No. 1 seed. Getting this far seemed pretty unlikely when they started 0-5, when they had trouble stringing together wins and finished as the fourth seed in the NEC tournament and when they trailed throughout their NEC quarterfinal.
"It's been a long journey," Prescott said. "And to make it to this type of stage, it's tremendous."
After playing perhaps their best back-to-back games of the season in the NEC semifinals and final, the Mountaineers looked lost as they made their debut in the Big Dance.
Albany surged ahead 9-0 by the first TV timeout and went up 13-0 with 13:31 remaining to force Christian into a timeout. The Mountaineers were 0 for 11 from the field at that point. They finally scored on a Whack drive nearly seven minutes into the game, but the Danes pushed their advantage to 21-2 on a baseline drive by Hooley that was their fifth straight made field goal.
"Although 21-2 is not exactly the best way to start the game - I think anyone would acknowledge that - I knew our team would rally together and be able to come back," Christian said.
Still, basketball fans across the nation might've been tempted to switch channels at that point.
"We're the only game on national television, so we wanted to keep the viewers interested," Albany coach Will Brown quipped. "Mount St. Mary's is too good of a team, they're too good offensively. And they play the pressure defense ... so we just knew they'd make a run."
Trailing by 19 points, the same amount they trailed by with just over nine minutes left in the NEC quarterfinals, the Mount staged a furious rally fueled by a full-court press they were able to use effectively once they started making some baskets.
Miller came off the bench to get it started. He drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing, the Mount's first made 3-pointer after eight misses. Then Whack scored on a drive. And Norfleet swished a 3-pointer from deep on the right wing. Then Miller hit another 3, Prescott drove the lane and Miller capped an 18-0 run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull the Mount within 21-20. Albany committed four turnovers and went 5:30 without scoring during the run.
"The way we came back is very typical of how we play, shooting the 3-ball, getting into the press and playing together," Christian said. "Not surprised that we were able to come back from such a poor start."
Three-pointers by Prescott and and then Whack gave the Mount its first lead at 26-25 with just under five minutes to play. Albany scored the final six points of the half to take a 35-31 lead into the break.
The Mountaineers took their biggest lead at 45-41 on a Prescott bucket with 14:06 remaining, but then went more than five minutes without a field goal and Albany used a quick 10-1 run to re-take control.
A Prescott 3-pointer and then a pair of 3s on consecutive possessions from the left wing by Miller pulled the Mount within 63-62 with 3:28 to play. Hooley hit a pair of free throws, but Norfleet responded with a layup. A Hooley jumper extended the lead to 67-64 and the Mount committed a turnover.
The Mountaineers made a good defensive stand on the other end with just over a minute left, but Whack's 3-pointer from the right wing that looked destined to tie the score with 36 seconds left went in and out.
"I thought it was going in," Whack said. "But sometimes it doesn't always fall."
Said Christian: "If that goes down maybe there's a different outcome."
The Mount still had a chance when Hooley missed the front end of a one-and-one. Norfleet had a look at a tying 3 but it went off the back of the rim.
Four free throws later, the game, and the Mount's season, was over.
"It's not easy getting to this point," Christian said, noting how proud he is of his seniors before turning his attention to his returning players. "I'd be shocked if the younger guys weren't back in the gym in the next 48 hours, trying to fight to get back here again."
