Lamar Trice scored 17 points to lead Mount St. Mary's (Md.) over Saint Francis (Pa.) 64-55 on Saturday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Mountaineers (11-20, 9-9 Northeast Conference) scored the first four points of the second half to take their biggest lead, 42-19, with 18:35 remaining. They were then outscored 27-9 by the Red Flash (9-20, 7-11), who brought it within five, 51-46, on Umar Shannon's basket with 4:44 to play.
Mount St. Mary's answered with six straight to push the lead back to double figures and secure the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament. The Mountaineers will travel to second-seeded Quinnipiac on Thursday.
Shawn Atupem added 12 points and Danny Thompson had 12 rebounds off the bench for Mount St. Mary's, which snapped a four game losing streak.
Shannon led the Red Flash with 20 points.
