Miracle as MtA completes weekend sweep for young Mounties

The Mount Allison Mounties pulled off the unthinkable Saturday vs the visiting Crandall Chargers to win 78-76 in a key ACAA matchup. After a dismal first half performance, a young Mounties team overcame a 31 point deficit with only 16 minutes remaining to completely shock the 3rd place Chargers and all the fans in attendance, in a dramatic come from behind win, helping the Mounties to their second consecutive 2 point win in 2 nights.

The Mounties, who seemed lifeless, after a 2 point overtime win over the St. Thomas Tommies the night before in Fredericton, managed only 27 points in the first half against the aggressive Chargers before erupting for 51 second half points to propel the Mounties to a win, for many who thought a Chargers win was in the books.

The Mounties, with a 90-88 OT win over the Tommies Friday and Saturday's comeback win over Moncton rival Crandall University, have vaulted to an 8-4 record overall in the ACAA, good enough for a second place tie with the MSVU Mystics of Halifax. The Mounties win over Crandall was a tale of two halves. After trailing 49-27, it was the Mountie's defence in the second half that made the difference, allowing the Chargers only 27 second half points. That and a 51 point explosion saw the Mounties erase 17 points of the Charger lead in just 5 minutes entering the fourth with the Mounties still trailing 68-54. The final quarter was just momentum for the Mounties who, trailing by 9 with 6 minutes remaining, defended well and gutted and worked their way to the 78-76 victory.

Leading the Mounties were Yanniv Perez with 17, Aram Currie with 15, while Seongwoo Park and Sam Pierson added 12 and 11 respectively.

In another crazy finale the night before, the Mounties overcame two separate double digit deficits at STU before prevailing over the Tommies with Brett Curtis's driving score in the dying seconds of OT to lift the Mounties to their exciting road win 90-88. James French led the Mounties scoring with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Brett Curtis scored 19, freshman forward Sam Pierson had his best game as a Mountie with 17 points and 9 rebounds while Aram Currie continued his scoring pace with 15 points.

The Mounties, winners of 3 of their last four games, head to MSVU with second place implications on the line Saturday, before returning home Sunday Jan 27 to host the UKC Blue Devils of Halifax in a 4:00pm start.