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Mount St. Mary's Takes Down Bryant for Sixth #NECMBB Crown

3/9/2021



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Smithfield, RI - Mount St. Mary's relied on its trademark defense to key a 73-68 win over Bryant in the Northeast Conference Championship game on Tuesday night to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history.  Tournament most valuable player Nana Opoku had 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks while Damian Chong Qui added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win.  The Mount (12-10), the top defensive team in the NEC, held Bryant to 38.5 percent shooting in the game while holding a 46-34 edge on the boards and blocking a season-high 10 shots. 

Opoku, the NEC's Defensive Player of the Year, was 7-of-13 from the field while controlling the middle of the paint attacking Bryant's zone defense.  Chong Qui scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the second half while adding eight boards and five assists to earn All-Tournament team honors.  Mezie Offurum added 16 points and eight rebounds in the win to also earn a spot on the All-Tournament team.  Malik Jefferson had 10 points while grabbing 15 rebounds for his second consecutive NEC Tournament double-double.  Charles Pride led Bryant with a game-high 33 points, hitting 8-of-12 from three-point range in the game.

Leading by five at the half, the Mount took its biggest led of the game, 51-40, with 10:43 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs fought back, cutting the Mount's advantage to 54-53 on a Charles Pride basket with 7:18 on the clock.  Bryant had a chance to take the lead, but Peter Kiss was off the mark on a three-point attempt in transition, and Chong Qui converted four straight free throws to push the Mount lead back to five.  After a Bryant bucket, Chong Qui nailed a three-pointer, Jefferson hit a pair of free throws, and Opoku hit a hook shot in the lane to make it 65-55 with 3:22 left.

Bryant did not go away behind the hot shooting of Pride, who drained a pair of late three-pointers, the second making it a 67-64 game with just under a minute left.  Offurum was fouled on the ensuing possession, and he hit both to stretch the lead back to five.  Bryant was able to whittle the deficit to 70-68 with 16 seconds left on a Pride drive to the basket, but Opoku calmly stepped up to hit two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left and the Mount was able to secure the 73-68 win.

The Mount fell behind, 8-4, at the first media timeout, but a Deandre Thomas three-pointer midway through the first half gave the Mount a 15-12 advantage, a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.  The Mountaineers led by as much as eight points in the first half before settling for a 34-29 lead at the break.

The Mount won its third NEC Championship as the tournament's No. 4 seed, joining the 2008 and 2014 teams.  The Mount has now won six NEC Tournament titles (1995, 1999, 2008, 2014, 2017 and 2021).  The Mountaineers are now 6-2 all-time in the NEC Championship game, including 4-2 on the road.
 


2021 #NECMBB ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP: Nana Opoku, Mount St. Mary's

Damian Chong Qui, Mount St. Mary's

Mezie Offurum, Mount St. Mary's

Peter Kiss, Bryant

Charles Pride, Bryant


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