Mount St. Mary's, Md. 60, Cent. Connecticut St. 59

12/8/2007 3:13 PM

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) -Jeremy Goode had 19 points and Will Holland added 16 to help Mount St. Mary's survive for a 60-59 win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday.

Tristan Blackwood led the Blue Devils with 25 points.

Central had one last gasp when David Simmons followed two of his own misses to score and cut the gap to two, 58-56, with 32.6 seconds left.

The Blue Devils (2-7, 0-2 NEC) could never foul on the ensuing possession, however, and Chris Vann's open layup with four seconds to go moved the lead to four. Shemik Thompson hit a 3-pointer to complete the scoring, but it was not enough to close the gap.

Mount St. Mary's (4-4, 2-0 NEC) opened a 10-point lead on two free throws by Sam Atupem at the 16:22 mark. Blackwood twice cut the deficit to six with 3-pointers, and Central found itself still in contention as the clock moved under eight minutes.

Two free throws by Joe Seymore and a basket by Simmons pulled Central within two, 49-47, with 6:34 to go.

The game became even more of a defensive struggle for the next two minutes until Goode took over. His two free throws followed by a driving score with 3:04 left put the Mount up 54-49, and another drive by Holland stretched the margin to seven.

Goode had 12 points in the first, but the most timely points came from Holland. Central was down by four and playing for the last shot of the first half when Holland stole the ball, rushing down the floor for a layup with just over a second left to send the Mountaineers to intermission up 35-29.

Mount St. Mary's led for much of the first 20 minutes, but the Blue Devils consistently cut into the Mount's lead to stay close. Goode was 5-for-7 from the floor in the half, while Central was led by nine from Blackwood.

Central Connecticut had nine turnovers in the first half.