Nov. 7—COLLEGE PARK — While the score gradually got away from Mount St. Mary’s, the team’s competitive spirit never did, and the big stage never seemed to be too big.
With a trio of freshman providing almost half of their points off the bench, the Mountaineers came away from Tuesday night’s 68-53, season-opening loss at Maryland feeling pretty encouraged about their performance and the rest of their season.
“I just told them, if we can play with the intensity that we had, we have a chance to be good,” Mount coach Dan Engelstad said. “We played a lot of young guys tonight. They played their first college basketball game, and they weren’t scared.”
With their top returning scorer from last season, Dakota Leffew, struggling from the field (3-for-14 for eight points), Mount St. Mary’s received a big contribution and spark from a trio of freshmen.
Guard Dallas Hobbs made four of his 11 shots and finished with nine points in 22-plus minutes. Guard De’Shayne Montgomery threw down a pair of dunks early in the second half and finished with eight points in almost 19 minutes. And forward Ron Jessamy had a good finish, posting seven points and six rebounds in just over seven minutes of action near the end of the game.
Overall, the three freshmen made 9 of 19 shots and only turned the ball over three times.
“If I am not having a good game, and my shot is not falling, it’s good that someone can come in and pick us up,” Leffew said.
Even Maryland coach Kevin Willard was impressed with how well the Mount freshmen acquitted themselves.
“I thought the freshmen played phenomenal,” Willard said in his postgame remarks. “I thought that was much better than I anticipated.”
Of course, the freshman with the most eyes on him was Maryland’s DeShawn Harris-Smith, who became the first true freshman to start for the Terps since 2018.
He showed flashes of his vast potential over the course of his 27-plus minutes with a 12-point performance on 4-of-6 shooting. He added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Overall, Mount St. Mary’s could not compete with Maryland’s size and athleticism.
The Terps began to pull away with a 15-5 run over the final eight minutes of the first half. They built the lead to as much as 22 midway through the second half and then held their ground as the plucky Mountaineers got within 12 in the closing minutes.
Junior Julian Reese, Maryland’s 6-foot-9, 230-pound power forward, was a dominant force throughout, despite some shaky free-throw shooting (2-for-7). He finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Fifth-year player Jahmir Young, a 6-foot-1 guard, finished with 12 points for Maryland to join Reese and Harris Smith in double figures.
Maryland shot 50 percent from the field, despite making only three of 16 3-point attempts.
Mount St. Mary’s was just as cold from behind the arc, sinking just two of 12.
“When you play teams like Maryland, they take you out of your stuff. They were so physical,” said Engelstad, who acknowledged the Mount’s offensive performance was not up to snuff and needs to get better.
Still, hope for the future was on full display for the Mountaineers, who are about to embark on their second full season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They left Xfinity Center feeling better than they might have coming in.
“We went out there, and I felt we left it all out on the floor,” Hobbs said. “It’s stuff to build on. I didn’t really feel like the lights were too bright.”
Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek
