A season full of exhilarating finishes and moments for Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball concluded Friday with a defeat at the hands of Duke Friday at the Lenovo Center. The top-seeded Blue Devils took the game by a 93-49 final.
Arlandus Keyes had the best offensive effort on the afternoon for the Mountaineers, posting 15 points – all of which came off three-pointers. The five triples tie his season high, which he also had in a game against Canisius in February.
Jedy Cordilia came close to a double-double, registering nine points and eight rebounds. Dola Adebayo finished with nine rebounds to lead the Mountaineers while adding six points. Xavier Lipscomb and Javon Ervin added six points apiece, and Dallas Hobbs finished with four. Trey Wilson finished with three points in four minutes of gameplay.
Duke had four players score double figures, led by 19 from Tyrese Proctor. Cooper Flagg added another 14 points with seven boards.
The contest went wire-to-wire for the Blue Devils as they scored 22 of the first 28 points. Mount got into a more offensive rhythm when Keyes began hitting three-pointers. Duke made a gradual ascent to a 26-point advantage at the break. The second-half highlight for the Mount was an 11-4 run in the early moments of the period, with Ervin, Lipscomb, Adebayo, and Keyes all contributing.
Friday’s game marks the fifth time Mount St. Mary’s competed in the NCAA First Round. They faced Kentucky in 1995, Michigan State in 1999, North Carolina in 2008, and Villanova in 2017. The tournament run was the Mount’s first as Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) representatives.
Mount St. Mary’s finishes the season with a 23-13 record, the most victories as a Division I team and the most for the program since 1986-87.
This article first appeared on the Mount St. Mary’s website.