Mount rolls to resounding win in MAAC debut behind Benjamin’s 28

Jalen Benjamin led Mount St. Mary’s with 28 points as Mountaineers made statement in first MAAC game with convincing win over defending champion Saint Peter’s. (Photo by David Sinclair/Mount St. Mary’s Athletics)

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Before Mount St. Mary’s embarked on its new endeavor in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Dan Engelstad shared that Jim Phelan, the late great architect of Mountaineer basketball, always aspired to someday guide the longtime Northeast Conference power into the league in which it now resides.

As it turned out, The Mount’s baptism to MAAC basketball Thursday proved to be a performance the Hall of Fame coach would have loved.

Following a physical first half against Saint Peter’s that resembled a majority of the wars that teams of Peacocks past competed in and won, it was the new kid in town who stole the show, shooting 55 percent from the field in the second half and making seven of its ten 3-point attempts as the Mountaineers powered past the reigning MAAC champion Peacocks in a convincing 73-58 decision inside Run Baby Run Arena.

“I hope it’s always this fun,” Engelstad quipped as The Mount used Jalen Benjamin’s 28 points as the fuel it needed to turn heads in an impressive conference debut. “We know what to expect. We know that there’s great coaching in this league, we know that it’s physical. We also know that we have a group we really like, and we’re excited to rise to the challenge of this conference.”

“I put on the board before the game: 0-0. I talked to the guys about not just 0-0 in MAAC play, but 0-0 in the history of MAAC play. You have a chance to create some history tonight, let’s go have some fun doing it. And when I was saying that, I was thinking about (Phelan).”

The Mount (4-4, 1-0 MAAC) drew first blood after a scoreless first 92 seconds when Benjamin struck first from the right arc on one of his five 3-pointers, igniting an 8-2 run to open the proceedings. Saint Peter’s would eventually storm back with seven straight points later in the opening stanza to take a lead it would bring into the locker room after holding the Mountaineers without a field goal for the final four minutes of the period.

The visitors would not be denied, however, as Deandre Thomas scored the first six points after the intermission to put The Mount ahead for good. The Peacocks (4-3, 0-1 MAAC) would draw to within two points several minutes later, but a 10-0 Mount outburst — the last eight points in the stretch coming from Benjamin — slammed the door on a Saint Peter’s comeback as the fifth-year senior led the charge.

“We just prepared really well all this week in practice,” Benjamin remarked, deflecting the credit to his teammates on the heels of a night on which he shot 10-of-17 and missed only one of his attempts from distance. “We were all locked in and coming out here executing the plan on all cylinders. We’ve been here four years now, and the experience shows it all. Our guys take after us. It’s a team game, man. One person can’t win the game. Everybody has each other’s back on this team.”

“He made huge strides in that regard,” Engelstad said of Benjamin’s willingness to take initiative. “That’s something we’ve really challenged him to be. Everybody knows Jalen’s going to take the shots. He’s the guy that people are looking at, and he’s really stepped up for his example. He’s working really hard, he’s taking care of himself, and he’s done a really good job of leading this group. He told the group today, ‘we gotta guard, we gotta defend.’ You can’t say that if not you’re going to be the example and do that, and I thought he really battled on the defensive end today, which was huge for us on top of the offensive output that he had.”

With the momentum of a strong first impression squarely under its belt, The Mount must quickly turn the page for the back end of its opening league foray, returning home for a Saturday clash with a veteran Rider team who possesses strong guard play and an intriguing matchup for Benjamin at the lead guard spot in Dwight Murray, Jr., but will face several unknowns in a Mountaineer team hardened by a strong non-league slate that has already paid off in terms of the effort put forth through the first month of the season.

“It’s brought us all together,” Benjamin reaffirmed. “Each game, we’ve learned, even though we lost some. That’s all it’s about, moving to the next game, next play, never hanging your head and picking up a teammate every time.”

“We haven’t made it easy on us,” Engelstad admitted. “We’ve done a lot of travel, we’ve played in some great college basketball environments to prepare us for a physical Saint Peter’s team. We had a familiarity with how Coach Mason and his teams play, and it was no different. They were going to play tough and physical. Being able to compete at the level we had against some really good teams, even though we didn’t necessarily get the results, helped us a lot. I do think our guys really responded, and we got up for a good game. We said the tougher team was going to win tonight, and I really felt our guys played tough.”