Cresson, PA - The Mount Aloysius Men's Basketball team won its 4th consecutive game on Wednesday night, defeating Franciscan University 70-56.

The Mounties used their trademark stifling defense, along with some timely shooting to build an early lead. Josiah Jones (Gaithersburg, MD/Magruder) started the scoring as he drilled a three from the corner on the Mounties' first possession. After two straight baskets from Franciscan, Imrane Amadou (Cotonou, Benin/Harcum Junior College)  finished a put back lay up to put the Mounties back in front. It was the last time Mount Aloysious would trail in the contest. The Mounties scored the next 7 points and a Nate Christian (Accokeek, MD/Surratsville) basket capped the 9-0 run to force a Franciscan timeout. Franciscan responded after the time out to cut the lead to 3, but Jones drilled a three while being fouled with 11:06 to go in the half. Jones converted the four point play to push the Mountie lead back to 7. The Mounties would build a 16 point lead in the half, with the high water mark coming at the 2:01 mark when Christian hit a shot in the lane. As a team, the Mounties shot over 48% from the field while connecting on 6-13 from three and making all three attempted free throws.

The Mounties would maintain their lead through the first 10 minutes of the second, thanks to the 6-0 run from freshman Carlos Palacio (Bilbao, Spain/Phelps School) at the 12 minute mark. After the Palacio run, Franciscan would make a run of their own, cutting the lead to 6, however that was as close as they would come, as Jones responded with a clutch three to push the lead back to 9 with just under eight minutes to go. Mount Aloysius continued their clutch end of game free throw shooting as the trio of Julian Stover (Washington DC/Richard Montgomery), Jones and Trent McErlane (Greenville, PA/Greenville) made 11 of 14 free throws in the last three minutes to seal the victory.

Palacio led the way for the Mounties with 18 points, shoot an astounding 66% from the field including 2-4 from three. In the second half alone, Palacio scored 12 points on 5 of 6 from the field. Stover finished with 15 points and 5 assists. Stover hit 5 of 6 from the line. He currently is 2nd in the nation in free throws made (58) and 3rd in free throws attempted (70). Jones had his strongest performance of the season, finishing with 14 points. Jones hit 3 of his 4 attempts from three and 5-7 from the line. 

The win moves the Mounties to 5-3 on the season with a 3-0 record in the AMCC. They will hit the road this weekend as they travel to Buffalo to play Hilbert. The game will be at 3:00 PM on Saturday.