Long helps Mount reach NEC final
Towson men win CAA quarterfinal
All season, Mount St. Mary’s players and their coach have described their season, and their success, as a journey.
And every time someone brings it up, the conversation usually ends with something close to “the best is yet to come.” It might be starting to get good for the Mountaineers. After winning a Northeast Conference regular-season championship, which meant garnering the top seed for the postseason tournament, the Mount is one win away from claiming a Northeast Conference title. The next step was taken Saturday at Knott Arena, where the Mountaineers pulled away from Robert Morris late and prevailed, 75-66, to survive and advance.
Mount St. Mary’s (18-15) closed the game on a 10-2 run over the final 50 seconds, with sophomore guard Elijah Long (John Carroll) scoring five points during the crucial stretch. Long finished with 22 points, a game high, and scored nine of them in the final 4:06 to keep the Mount in the game.
Robert Morris (14-19), the tournament’s No. 7 seed, had a 64-63 lead with 2:27 to go but committed offensive fouls on successive possessions and didn’t hit a field goal the rest of the way.
Long made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, after Robert Morris’ second offensive foul, to put Mount St. Mary’s ahead 68-64. The Colonials’ Clive Allen hit a pair of free throws at the other end, but the Mount responded with two from junior forward Chris Wray — the 30.3 percent free-throw shooter shot each one one-handed — and jumped back to a four-point lead.
The Mount will host Saint Francis on Tuesday for the NEC championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament.
TOWSON 82, NORTHEASTERN 54: Zane Martin scored 16 points to lead the Tigers (20-12) past the Huskies (15-16) in a Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinal in Charleston, S.C.
Towson reached 20 wins for the first time as a Division I program and second time in school history. The Tigers will face College of Charleston in today’s semifinal at 4:30 p.m.