Brooklyn, N.Y (February 4, 2016)--Junior Robinson's (Mebane, N.C.) desperation three-pointer from 30-feet was off the mark, and Mount St. Mary's fell at LIU Brooklyn, 77-74, on Thursday night at the Steinberg Wellness Center.  BK Ashe (Washington, D.C.) scored 21 points while Robinson added 20 for the Mountaineers in the loss.

In a game that featured 52 fouls called, the Mount (10-14, 7-4 NEC) fought back from a seven-point deficit in the final minutes to have a chance to tie the game at the buzzer.

LIU's Jerome Frink scored on a rebound basket with 52 seconds remaining to give LIU (11-11, 5-6 NEC) a 72-66 advantage.  Robinson countered on the other end with a traditional three-point play to cut the deficit to 72-69.  The Mount fouled Martin Hermannsson with 36 seconds left, and he hit both free throws to make the score 74-69.  After a Mount miss, Frink hit 1-of-2 at the line to push the score to 75-69.

Ashe countered with a lay-up, and the Mount fouled Joel Hernandez with 18 seconds remaining.  He hit 1-of-2 at the line to give LIU a 76-71 lead, but Ashe countered with a three-pointer with 8.8 seconds left to cut the deficit to 76-74.

Hermannsson was fouled with 5.5 second on the clock, and he hit 1-of-2 at the line to make it 77-74.   The Mount got the ball to Robinson, but LIU was able to force him into a 30-footer under pressure, and Robinson's shot at the buzzer was off the mark.

Ashe led the Mount with 21 points and four rebounds while Robinson added 20 points in the loss.  It is the first time the Mount has had two players score 20 or more points in the same game since Ashe and Gregory Graves (Sterling, Va.) did against Fairleigh Dickinson on January 21, 2015.  Graves added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Mountaineers in the game.

Hermannsson led LIU with 21 points and seven boards while Frink chipped in 19 points and nine boards.

The Mount shot 37.7 percent from the field in the game, but was 21-of-25 (.840) at the foul line.  The Blackbirds shot 45.3 percent overall and were 25-of-42 (.595) at the foul line.  The Mount held a 40-37 edge on the boards.

In the first half, LIU scored the first basket of the game before the Mount went on a 9-2 run to take a 9-4 advantage.  Ashe scored five points during the run that was capped by a Taylor Danaher (Fredericksburg, Va.) lay-up on a feed from Elijah Long (Mississauga, Ont.).

LIU fought back to even the score at 11-11, but the Mount went on another 9-2 run to grab a 20-13 advantage.   A Charles Glover (Bowie, Md.) jumper put the Mount ahead, 28-21, with 5:42 remaining in the opening half.  LIU, however, was able to close the half on a 13-to-7 run to cut the Mount lead to 35-34 at the half.

The Mount shot just 35.4 percent (12-of-35) from the field in a sloppy first that saw each team commit 10 turnovers.  Ashe led the Mountaineers with 11 first-half points.

Mount St. Mary's falls into a three-way tie for second place in the NEC with Wagner and Saint Francis U.  Fairleigh Dickinson's win over Wagner tonight puts the Knights alone in first place with an 8-3 record.

The Mount returns to action on Saturday with a key NEC matchup at Wagner at 4:00 p.m.