MOUNT HEADED TO THE DANCE

Fairfield, CT -- Tournament MVP Jean Cajou and Kelly Beidler each scored 15 points and Mount St. Mary's earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999 with a 68-55 win Wednesday night over Sacred Heart before a sellout crowd of 2,774 at the William H. Pitt Center in the Northeast Conference championship game.

Jeremy Goode added 13 and Shawn Atupem had 12 for the fourth-seeded Mountaineers, who won the tournament for the third time, but the first under a coach other than Jim Phelan, who coached the team for 49 years until retiring in 2003. Current coach Milan Brown was an assistant on the last championship team.

"In the back of my mind, I knew that bringing a championship home would definitely be great for me," said Mount head coach Milan Brown. "But it is going to put a smirk on his (Jim Phelan’s) face too, even though I know he was so nervous that he didn’t watch the game."

Mount St. Mary's has won eight of its last nine, including a win over top-seed Robert Morris in the semifinals.

Brice Brooks had 18 points and Drew Shubik had 13 to lead Sacred Heart, which cut a nine-point deficit to 57-55 with just over three minutes left.

But Beidler hit a basket that stretched the lead back to four, and Shubik threw the ball into the hands of Mount St. Mary's Markus Mitchell on the other end. Mount St. Mary's scored 11 straight to end the game, most of those from the foul line.

The two teams combined for 52 fouls, and the Mountaineers were 30-of-35 from the foul line.

Ryan Howard, who averages over eight points for Sacred Heart, fouled out with more than seven minutes left.

Chris Vann, who averages almost 15 points per game and is the Mountaineers' leading scorer, picked up his third and fourth fouls less than two minutes into the second half. He came back into the game with about eight minutes to go, and immediately hit a jumper, his first points, to give Mount St. Mary's a 50-42 lead, but finished with four points.

The Pioneers scored first, but hit one of their next 12 shots, and committed four early turnovers. The Mountaineers went on 13-2 run, and were up 13-4 with 12 minutes left in the first half.

The Mount led 28-19 late in the half, but Sacred Heart scored the last four points, the final two coming on a putback by Howard at the buzzer.

"We consider ourselves the number-one defensive team in the conference and I believe this, right here, proved it," said Beidler. "We played at their gym, everyone was thinking that they’re going to win and we came in and shocked everybody."

Sacred Heart started the second half on a 6-0 run, taking the lead on a three-point play by Shubik. But the Mount put together an 8-0 run to go back up 40-33.

The Pioneers were making their second trip to the title game. They lost a year ago to Central Connecticut State.

"We're disappointed naturally," said Sacred Heart head coach Dave Bike. "I thought we had a not so good record at home this year. It's unfortunate we shot 29 percent and you have to tip your hat to Mount St. Mary. I thought they got to the line a little more than I'd like them to, but again, it's tough to look good shooting 29 percent."

Mount St. Mary’s will now await Sunday’s NCAA selection show to find their opponent and destination.

"At this point, I don’t care where we play," said Brown. "I just want to keep playing."


NEC All-Tournament Team
Mark Porter, Wagner
Brice Brooks, Sacred Heart
Drew Shubik, Sacred Heart
Jeremy Goode, Mount St. Mary's
Jean Cajou, Mount St. Mary's (MVP).
 

THE MOUNT ADVANCES TO NEC CHAMPIONSHIP

Moon Township, Pa. -- Jeremy Goode scored 23 points to lead fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's to an 83-65 win at top-seed Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference semifinals. With the victory, the Mount advances to the Northeast Conference Championship for the third time in school history.

Leading 44-40 with 16:37 remaining, the Mount (17-14) went on a 9-1 run to take a 53-41 advantage with 12:28 on the clock. The Mount was able to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way, stretching the margin to 72-53 after a pair of Kelly Beidler free throws with 2:51 on the clock. The Mount hit nine free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Goode was 6-for-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line for his game-high 23 points. Beidler came off the bench with 15 points and six boards while Jean Cajou added 13 points off the bench as well. Sophomore Will Holland had 11 points and three steals in the victory for the Mount. Jeremy Chappell scored 20 points to pace Robert Morris while A.J. Jackson added 16 in the loss. The loss snapped a 14-game win streak for the Colonials (26-7).

The Mount shot 54.3 percent from the floor in the game while holding the Colonials to 40.4 percent shooting.

The Mount has won seven of its past eight games to advance to the NEC finals for the first time since 1999. The Mount is 2-0 all-time in NEC Championship games, winning the title in 1995 and 1999.

The Mount will play at the winner of tonight's Sacred Heart vs. Wagner game in the NEC Championship on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m.

Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Milan Brown: "Our guys were really focused on what we were trying to do both offensively and defensively. We played with a sense of urgency. Our goal was not to win tonight, but to get to Wednesday and have a chance to win then. We talked about being up early and being able to sustain our energy and focus on the offensive and defensive end."
 

MOUNT WINS TOURNAMENT OPENER

Emmitsburg, MD -- Senior Jean Cajou scored 20 points to lead fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary’s to an 80-70 win over fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinals at Knott Arena on Thursday night. It was the first home playoff win for the Mount since 1996.

DeMario Anderson’s jumper gave Quinnipiac (15-15) an early 10-5 lead, but the Mount responded with a 17-0 run to take a 22-10 advantage. Jeremy Goode and Cajou kick started the run with back-to-back three-point baskets.

Quinnipiac fought back, using a 10-1 run of its own to cut the Mount lead to 26-24 with 6:52 left in the half after a James Feldeine three-pointer. Mount St. Mary’s responded to push the margin back to 10 (35-25) and went to the locker room with a 37-33 lead.

Feldeine converted a fast-break dunk 2:05 into the second half to cut the Mount’s lead to 39-37, but that would be as close as the Bobcats would get the rest of the way. Mount St. Mary’s took control of the game with a 13-0 run over the next 7:40 of the contest for a 52-37 lead. The Mount led comfortably the rest of the way with the closest Quinnipiac coming was 73-65 with 1:17 on the clock.

Cajou hit 5-of-11 from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe for his game-high 20 points, his second-straight 20-point game of the season. Kelly Beidler chipped in 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in his best game of the season while Goode finished with 15 points and five assists. Vann also reached double figures for the Mount with 11 points while Sam Atupem chipped in nine points and nine rebounds for the Mount.

Anderson, the leading scorer in the Northeast Conference, posted 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists to pace Quinnipiac. Casey Cosgrove added 12 points and Feldeine 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Mount shot 44.6 percent from the field in the game and was 24-of-39 (61.5 percent) from the foul line. Quinnipiac shot 41.3 percent overall and was 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) at the charity stripe.

The Mount will face top-seeded Robert Morris in the NEC semifinals on Sunday, March 9, at 3:00 p.m. at the Sewall Center in Moon Township, Pa.

Game Notes...The Mount has clinched its first winning season since 1996-97...That year, the Mount posted a 14-14 record...The Mount has advanced to the NEC Semifinals in each of the past two seasons.

Mount St. Mary’s Head Coach Milan Brown
“I am excited for our guys. We ‘re starting to achieve some of the goals we set up at the beginning of the year. This is a big game, but this isn’t the end goal for us. We still have some work to do.”

Quinnipiac Head Coach Tom Moore
“Mount St. Mary’s was terrific tonight and was clearly the better team. They played with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion.”