EMMITSBURG, Md. - Mount St. Mary's, which hit a season-high nine three-pointers, connected on the game-winning trey from Julian Norfleet with 0.6 left on the clock, to steal a 56-54 victory away from Monmouth on Thursday night in Northeast Conference play, in Knott Arena.
Trailing by a point following Marcus Ware's go-ahead basket for the Hawks with 18.0 seconds remaining, Mount St. Mary's called a full timeout with 11.1 on the board. Out of the break Lamar Trice drove into the lane and found Norfleet in the far corner for the game-winner, his third three of the game.
Monmouth, which has now played 15 games within a five-point decision, falls to 6-17 overall and 2-9 in the NEC. The Hawks are now 1-6 in league games decided by five points or less, falling in their third straight.
Monmouth, which opened the game 8-for-10 from the foul line, finished 15-for-21, as three Hawks scored in double-figures, led by Mike Myers Keitt's game-high 16 points. R.J. Rutledge added 12 points, while Ware contributed 11 points and six rebounds. Ed Waite added eight points off the bench, while James Hett chipped in with four points, and a career-high eight rebounds.
After falling behind 2-0, the Hawks responded with a 9-2 run, capped by a Hett backdoor lay-up off a feed from Waite, to take a 9-4 advantage with 14:57 left.
The Mount answered with five straight points, tying the contest at 9-9 on Josh Castellanos' three-pointer with 10:45 showing, but a pair of free throws from Myers Keitt claimed an 11-9 edge for MU with 9:40 on the board.
MSM hauled in a 12-11 edge on Trice's trey, but the Hawks answered with a 10-0 run, over a nearly four-minute span, which culminated in an Rutledge three-pointer, to grab a 21-12 advantage with 4:19 showing. After the Mountaineers pulled within 21-17, Ware's three-point play and later baseline jumper, gave MU a 26-19 cushion with 1:27 left, but the Mount netted three three-pointers in the final 1:04 of the stanza to take a 28-26 lead at the break.
Trice's jumper 16 seconds into the half extended the Mount's run to 11-0 from the opening stanza, giving MSM a 30-26 edge, before consecutive hoops from Myers Keitt knotted the score at 30-30 with 18:31 remaining.
After both sides traded three-pointers, Rutledge drilled his second straight to reclaim the lead for Monmouth, 36-35, with 16:29 left.
The Mount answered with a 6-0 spurt over the next minute and a half of action to coral a 41-36 advantage, but the Hawks climbed within 41-40 on Hett's pull-up jumper in transition, with 13:41 on the clock.
Leading 43-42, the Mount put together a 7-0 spurt to grab an eight-point edge with 10:32 showing, before a Rutledge free throw made the score 50-43 with 8:59 remaining.
After falling behind by its largest deficit of the game, Monmouth raced out with the next six points, capped by Rutledge's reverse layup, to pull within 50-48 with 5:18 left. MSM halted the Hawks' run with the next three points to snag a 53-48 cushion with 3:55 showing.
A pair of free throws from Myers Keitt pulled Monmouth within three, and his back-door cut into a dunk made the score 53-52 with 2:49 left.
After both teams missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities, Monmouth forced a turnover with 1:45 left, but Rutledge was whistled for a charge with 1:11 left.
Leading by a point, the Mount called a timeout with 50.2 left (and 14 seconds on the shot clock), and MSM was called for a moving screen with 39.3 showing.
On the ensuing possession, MU called timeout with 32.8 left with nearly a three-second differential between the game and shot clocks. The Hawks moved the ball around and found Ware for a post basket with 18.0 seconds left, and a 54-53 lead.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, February 5, when the Hawks travel to Wagner for a Northeast Conference game in the Spiro Sports Center at 7:00 p.m.
