USC gets past Mount St. Mary’s

Boogie Ellis hit four three-pointers and finished with 19 points, Drew Peterson added 15 points, eight rebounds and a careerhigh 12 assists and USC beat Mount St. Mary’s 83-74 Friday night at Galen Center.

Joshua Morgan made six of seven from the field and finished with career highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-11 junior added four blocks for USC (3-1) and has 15 this season.

Peterson assisted on a layup by Ellis to close an 8-0 run that made it 59-44 with 9:20 to play and the Trojans led by double figures until a 10-0 run by Mount St. Mary’s trimmed its deficit to 75-68 with 2:43 remaining, but the Mountaineers got no closer.

USC took the lead for good on Morgan’s dunk with 6:18 left that made it 24-22 and Peterson assisted on layups by Morgan and Tre White and a three-pointer by Ellis before his jumper with 14:25 to play capped an 11-2 run and gave the Trojans a 45-34 lead. White finished with 10 points.

Dakota Leffew scored 21 points on seven-for-13 shooting, with four steals for Mount St. Mary’s (1-3).