EMMITSBURG, Md. (Dec. 18, 2021) -- Jaylen Benjamin scored a game-high 17 points with eight assists to lead the Mount St. Mary's to a 74-60 victory over Morgan State on Saturday afternoon at Knott Arena. The Bears drop to 4-7 on the season and fall to 3-8 all-time against the Mountaineers.
Mezzie Offrum scored 14 points with six rebounds and Jaylin Gibson chipped in 13 points (3-4 3FG) off the bench. Nana Opoku finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
The Mountaineers never trailed in tonight's non-conference matchup as they hit 10 three-pointers and improved to 4-8 on the season.
Morgan shot 41.2% from the field in the first half and that allowed the Mount to take a 36-30 lead at halftime.
Seventh Woods came out of the halftime break and scored 7 of the Bears first 9 points, including a 3-pointer to pull the Bears to within 42-39. The Bears forced a turnover that led to a transition layup by Malik Miller to cut the lead to 46-45 with 13:03 remaining.
The Mount answered with an 18-to-4 run that all but sealed the win. An Opoku dunk in transition on a feed from Benjamin started a deciding run that put the Mount up by 15 with less than eight minutes on the clock. After the Opoku dunk, Gibson and Benjamin connected on back-to-back triples to stretch the lead to 54-45. Gibson drained his third three-pointer of the game to push the lead to double figures at 59-47, and after a Miller basket for Morgan, the Mount capped the run with an Offurum traditional three-point play and a Malik Jefferson hook shot in the paint for a 64-49 advantage with 7:49 remaining. From there, the Mountaineers cruised to the win.
Lagio Grantsaan led Morgan with 13 points while Seven Woods had 11. Miller and Keith McGee finished with eight points apiece. Miller also led the Bears on the glass with eight rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field in the victory while connecting on 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range. The Mount also held a 44-to-30 edge on the boards and finished with seven blocked shots. Morgan shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) and was held to 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) on three-point attempts. The Mount had 19 turnovers in the game that led to 16 points for the Bears.
The Mount (4-8) jumped out to an early 9-4 lead on three three-pointers and then stretched the advantage to 15-6 on an Offurum fast-break bucket just over eight minutes into the game. A baseline dunk by Grantsaan and a putback by Devonish cut the lead to four (21-17), but the Mountaineers answered with an Offurum drive and an Opoku alley-oop dunk on a feed from Benjamin to make it 25-17 with 3:51 left in the opening half. A Benjamin three-pointer put the Mount on top, 30-24, and from there the teams exchanged baskets with the Mount grabbing a 36-30 lead at the break.
NEXT UP:
Morgan State returns to action on Tuesday, December 21 when they host James Madison. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
