EMMITSBURG -- Junior guard Chris McGuthrie's shooting slump continued briefly last night, but once his bombs started finding their mark, visiting St. Francis, Pa., saw its chance for an upset fade.
McGuthrie scored 28 points, hitting five three-pointers in the process, as Mount St. Mary's recovered from a sloppy start to roll past the Red Flash, 81-66, before 2,185 at Knott Arena.
The victory kept the Mountaineers (9-9, 7-3) in a second-place tie with Monmouth in the Northeast Conference standings. Both teams trail league-leading Rider by a game and a half.
For McGuthrie, the Mountaineers' leading scorer and the third-leading scorer in the NEC, the night marked a return to his typical form. Coming in, McGuthrie had converted only 10 of 35 shots (28.6 percent) and managed only 28 points in his last three games.
He equaled that output in 38 productive minutes last night.
"When I go into slumps, it's because I haven't been practicing enough," McGuthrie said. "This week, we've been home, and I've been up early, getting into the gym and working on my shot. I still missed some wide-open shots tonight. I strive for perfection."
After missing several shots early and committing two turnovers to help St. Francis take an early 11-2 lead, McGuthrie converted a three-pointer six minutes into the game to pull the Mount to within 15-10. From there, he began working the Red Flash over with pull-up jumpers from beyond the arc and medium-range shots off quick moves that penetrated the St. Francis defense.
By halftime, McGuthrie had hit four three-pointers, scored 18 points and pushed the Mountaineers to a 40-34 lead.
"We're always confident that he [McGuthrie] is going to do it," said Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan, who recorded his 729th victory. "He does it against good teams, bad teams and mediocre teams. We just want him to keep shooting."
After McGuthrie gave the Mountaineers a lift in the first half, their size and bulk wore down the Red Flash (7-11, 3-7), despite a career-high 20 points and nine rebounds from St. Francis sophomore forward Terrence Martin.
The Mountaineers out-rebounded St. Francis 26-14 in the second half, mostly on the strength of 6-foot-11 center Randy Edney (12 rebounds) and supersub forward Michael Watson, who scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds. Point guard Riley Inge added 15 points.
After concluding the first half with an 11-4 run, the Mountaineers extended their halftime lead to 48-38 in the second half's opening three minutes. Forward Jeff Balistrere, who scored nine of his 13 after the break, capped that burst with a fast-break layup and a three-pointer.
St. Francis then scored eight unanswered points -- four by Martin -- to cut the lead to 48-46 with 13:44 remaining. At that point, Watson re-entered the game for Mount St. Mary's, and the momentum quickly swung back to the Mount.