Dayton, Ohio-Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilia made 22 points each to help Mount St. Mary’s to keep off American 83-72 on Wednesday evening in a first four victory.
Dallas Hobbs added 17 for the rock climbers (23-12), which goes on as No. 16 seeds to play top-seeded Duke in the first round of East Region competition Friday in Raleigh, NC
Geoff Sprouse had 18 points while Elijah Stephens added 12 for American (22-13), who saw his four-game victory that ended. Eagles lost leading goal scores Matt Rogers to a first half knee injury.
Cordilia had 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting during the first half for Mount St. Mary’s and finished the match 10 out of 11 from the floor. Hobbs, had 15 first half points, including a summary three that covered a 9-2 Mount St. Mary’s driving for a lead of 48-38 at half time.
Mount St. Mary’s seemed to remove the game with a string of seven straight made baskets, including a pair of thunderous cans from Dea Adebayo that stretched the lead to 79-60 with 6:03 left.
A 9-0 American spurt received American within 81-73 with 3:20 left before American head coach Duane Simpkins was called to a technical with 2:29 left. The American never did again.
Both teams showed sharp shooting skills, with Mount St. Mary’s who made 30 of her first 48 shots and finished 57.7 percent from the floor, while the American was 47.4 percent.
Rogers went down several times during the first half and then collided with Cordilia with 5:28 left before half time. Rogers, with his right knee already in a sleeve, needed help with the court and could not return.
Rogers, who led the American at 17.0 points per match, returned to the bench during the second half on crutches.
After Back-to-back 3 points from Greg Jones and Matt Mayock, American pulled in 56-51 with 15:11, the mountain climb replied with a 12-0 spurt containing 3-points from Arlandus Keyes and Malcolm Dread.
-As Mike Petraglia, Media at Field Level
