NEWBURGH, N.Y. – In their return to the Kaplan Center after seven consecutive road victories, the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team dominated the Polytechnic Institute of NYU and cruised to a 91-65 victory. The Knights improved to 16-5 overall and maintained their hold on first place in the conference at 14-2.
A sloppy start for the Knights resulted in a 16-16 tie after the opening ten minutes, but the game would not be close for much longer. Sophomore Ryan Straub (Massapequa, N.Y.) and freshman Chris Pisciotta (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) would connect on three-pointer during an 8-0 as the Mount opened up the biggest lead of the night at 24-16.
The mini 8-0 run was just a piece of a larger 24-4 run that resulted in a 40-20 advantage for the Knights with 2:22 remaining in the opening half. Mount Saint Mary would carry a 46-24 lead into the locker room.
NYU-Poly would get no closer than 19 during the second half and Mount Saint Mary would lead by as many as 29 before settling in for a 26-point margin of victory.
Senior Tim Morris (Greenwich, N.Y.) led the Knights with 22 points and nine rebounds, marking his fourth double-digit effort in the last five games. Sophomore Lenny Ragaglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) hit on three three-pointers and finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 from the field. Straub finished 4-for-4 from the field with two of his attempts coming from behind the arc for a total of 10 points.
As a team, the Knights shot a scalding 55.9-percent from the field and hit on 11-of-19 attempts from three (57.9-percent).
Junior Eddie Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) led NYU-Poly with 15 points. Senior Cornelius Angus (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 12 points, while senior John Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 10. The Blue Jays shot an impressive 52.3-percent from the field, but suffered from 21 turnovers.
The Mount faces a tricky road trip to Yeshiva University on Thursday before finishing out the regular season with three consecutive home dates. The game with Yeshiva is slated for an 8:00 p.m. start on February 10.