CINCINNATI, Ohio - On Wednesday, November 29th your Mount St. Joseph University Men's Basketball team hosted the Defiance College Yellow Jackets to begin HCAC play. The Lions got involved in the paint early and built up a lead to start the game. Heading into halftime the lead began to slip but the Lions still held a 1 point advantage. To begin the 2nd half the Lions began to expand their range knocking a couple 3-pointers down but Defiance would tie the game a little over halfway through the 2nd. But, the Lions continued to feed Collinsworth as he iced the game with a few free throws to give the Lions their 1st victory of the season and the HCAC.
In the 1st half, the Lions built an early lead. The paint is where the Lions lived as
Dylan Hammonds,
Matthew Menninger and
Luke Collinsworth all knocked down layups to give the Lions a 20-13 lead with 11 minutes remaining. But, the Yellow Jackets would respond pulling within 2 with 9 minutes left. a 3-point bucket from
Jack Kolar and another bucket from Hammonds gave the Lions back their 7 point advantage. But, Defiance again came storming back taking a 1 point lead with 38 seconds remaining in the half. However, a pair of free throws from Collinsworth gave the Lions the lead heading into the break.
To begin the 2nd half of play,
Matthew Menninger got it started right by drilling a 3-point bucket. But, Defiance would quickly even the score with a pair of buckets. The Lions would then go on a 7-0 run to take a 42-35 lead with 16 minutes left. The Mount would build their lead all the way to 8 before the Yellow Jackets would start eating at it. Defiance would crawl back tying the game at 54 with just under 8 minutes to go.
Defiance would build a 5 point lead with 6 minutes left but saw it disappear quickly. With 4:22 remaining a pair of free throws from
Luke Collinsworth gave the Lions a 62-61 advantage. From here on out, Collinsworth handled the scoring knocking down 5 free throws and a layup paired with a 3-pointer from Menninger to give the Lions the victory with a final score of 70-65!
Luke Collinsworth was absolutely dominant in the victory scoring 32 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Collinsworth was active at the foul line knocking down 18 free throws in the win.
Matthew Menninger scored a career high 17 points finishing 3-6 from beyond the arc. Freshman
Dylan Hammonds put together a solid outing scoring 14 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and assisting 3 buckets.
UP NEXT: Your Mount St. Joseph Men's Basketball team is back in action on Saturday, December 2nd as the Lions host the Spartans of Manchester. Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm.
