Written By Chad Washington

Dayton, OH – The Mountaineers are still dancing. Tonight Mount St. Mary’s faced American to tip off day two of the First Four in Dayton. The schools, which are only 60 miles apart and share recruiting territory, Took the floor in hopes to travel to Raleigh to face #1 Duke.

The first few minutes of the game were very fast-paced but the Mount led 48-38 after a three by Dallas Hobbs to bead the buzzer at the half. American’s Matt Rogers suffered two unfortunate knee injuries which benched him for the end of the first half and the whole second half.

South Florida native Geoff Sprouse (Pembroke Pines Charter) was able to pick up the scoring duties, scoring 12 points in the first half, as he connected on four threes.

Mount St. Mary’s controlled their lead throughout the second half. Malcolm Dread hit a three midway through the second half to extend the lead to 13 going into the under-12 media timeout.

After the media timeout, the Mountaineers kept scoring and held the Patriots scoreless for over 5 minutes in the second half.

American was able to make a run late in the second half. They cut the 19-point lead to as low as 9, but it wasn’t enough. A controversial late technical foul called on American HC Duane Simpkins all but sealed the deal. Mount St. Mary’s came away with the win 83-72

The Mountaineers finished with 4 double-digit scorers, led by Dola Adebayo, and Jedy Cordilla with 22 each.

The Mount will have to make the quick turnaround, traveling to Raleigh to play against Duke Friday at 2:50pm. Will the Mountaineers be able to upset the Blue Devils or will the ACC champs be too much?

Cover Photo Via WV News