Box Score Cresson, PA - The Mount Aloysius men's basketball team escaped with a 72-69 victory over visiting Francican University on Wednesday evening in the AMCC opener for both sides.
With eight seconds to play and holding a 71-69 lead with one second left on the shot clock, the Mounties attempted a lob to
Tanner Thomas. He missed his initial layup but controlled the rebound, and hit two free throws after being fouled. Franciscan's Jacob Divens was then 1-for-2 at the line after being fouled with two seconds left. After the Mounties
Nolan Doyle converted his first free throw with less than two seconds to play to put the Mounties up 72-69, he missed his second free throw and the ball was rebounded by Franciscan's Christian Duke. Duke's three-quarter court heave hit off the rim and Mount Aloysius came away victorious.
In a foul-plagued game for both sides, the Mounties were up by one point with 2:42 to go in the first half before a 7-3 run gave the home side a slight 40-35 advantage heading into the halftime break. The Mounties attempted to pull away in the early stages of the second half and led by nine points with 16:13 left on the clock, but the visiting Barons hung tough and eventually cut the deficit to 55-54 with 8:21 remaining in the game. The Mounties responded with a quick 6-0 spurt highlighted by two baskets from
Joe Dziabo. Franciscan's Jacob Divens was then good on a jumper that made it a 71-69 game with 41 seconds remaining and set up the game's final moments.
Thomas led all scorers with 23 points on an effective 9-for-12 shooting effort while adding eight rebounds. Dziabo contributed 17 points and six boards off the bench, while Doyle mixed nine points with a game-high six assists and two steals. Moses Sullivan led the Barons with 15 points, and Divens added 14 points.
The Mounties shot 25-for-49 (51%) from the field, but just 20-for-35 (57.1%) from the free throw line. The teams were even in rebounds with 32 apiece.
Mount Aloysius improves to 3-2 overall and will host Hilbert in another AMCC matchup on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
