The Mount St. Mary’s Men’s Basketball team took on Sacred Heart University on Jan. 21 and Central Connecticut State University on Jan. 23 at the Knott Arena. The Mount Head Coach Dan Engelstad’s players put in two performances that move to a record of 4-4 in conference play and an 8-10 overall record.
The team opened the weekend series of games with a 98-59 win against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. Mezie Offurum (C’22) scored first for the Mount and tied his career best total points in a game, with 22 points.
The men only had a day of rest before playing CCSU. “We’ll have a day’s rest, take care of our bodies tonight, going after it tomorrow morning at practice and then taking care of our bodies again and just resting…we will be ready for Sunday for sure,” said Josh Reaves (C’24). Reaves and the team took that mentality into the game on Sunday against CCSU.
The team beat the CCSU Blue Devils with a 65-50 win to close this home stand. It started off slow as both teams were exchanging good defensive plays. The standout offensive player was Dakota Leffew, whose long ball was going in all night, scoring 11 points. In addition to Leffew’s scoring, Offurum, who scored 14 points on the day, capped off a second half resurgence to help lead the team to victory.
On the approach the team will take for the upcoming game against their rivals, Engelstad stated, “It is practice by practice, that was kind of the message today, to even be up and close [Central Connecticut State] out, this isn’t about the opponent, it is... about us getting better as a basketball team.” The Mountaineers look to keep the momentum going into their game Jan. 27 at Fairleigh Dickinson and the Homecoming game on Jan. 29.