By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — When head coach Donny Lind walked into the press conference room after Mount St. Mary’s 57-55 win over Merrimack on Friday night in the MAAC tournament semifinals, he was joined by three of his players: starter Xavier Lipscomb, key reserve Arlandus Keyes and Malcolm Dread. Lipscomb has been in the starting lineup all year for the Mountaineers. Keyes plays 18 minutes a night off the bench, but Dread?
“Mo and (Patrick Haigh) were on the scout team less than a month ago,” Lind said. “They weren’t even going over our stuff, just going over the other team.”
Two key rotation pieces in Terrell Ard and Carmelo Pacheco are out for the MAAC Tournament. Ard was the main big man off the bench before he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in late February. Pacheco had started all 30 games he played in and is one of the best shooters in the conference, but he broke a finger in the regular season finale. Unfortunate circumstances like that allow other guys to enter the picture, like Dread.
“I have my teammates and coaches that trust me with a great support system,” Dread said. “Just because I wasn’t on the floor, I was still doing the same reps. Nothing’s changed.”
Dread scored seven points, all in the second half of the Mountaineers’ two point win over the Warriors. Haigh, who Lind alluded was also on the scout team this time last month, scored eight first-half points. Both players set career highs in arguably the biggest game of their careers up to this point.
“They stay ready, and you know when their number is called, their teammates believe in them,” Lind said. “They’re confident because of the work that they put in.”
Adding in Keyes’ 13 points, over half of The Mount’s points in the victory were from its reserves. This time of year, it doesn’t matter where the points come from as long as your team is able to score more than the other team. Lind’s squad has embraced that to the fullest.
“I believe that my team, the team that I want to coach, doesn’t care who scores,” Lind said. “They just want The Mount to score. That’s a really hard thing to buy into these days.”
Another incentive that the Mountaineers have to go out and win on Saturday is those aforementioned guys who can’t be on the floor. The culture that Lind has built in just his first year as a Division I head coach has been so tight, getting a mix of guys willing to come back from the previous regime, as well as add new additions to the fold that give the team its best chance to win.
“We’re doing this for the guys that are out,” Keyes said. “With them still being here, it turns us on and gives us a lot of praise, but we’re just here to win.”
Saturday night’s title bout with the fourth-seeded Iona Gaels is the next step. Mount St. Mary’s has never won a MAAC title or even made it to the championship game, albeit in just its third year in the conference. Lind and his squad can send a message to the entire conference with a victory, especially under the circumstances they have.
“We’ve been through all types of adversity and it doesn’t stop, but our guys believe in each other and that if we stick together, we’re gonna have the outcome that we want,” Lind said.
Tip between The Mount and Iona is set for 7:30 p.m.inside Boardwalk Hall.
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