Mount St. Mary's Beats American, Impresses Fans Ahead of March Madness Battle vs. Duke

Mount St. Mary's is still dancing.

The Mountaineers defeated American 83-72 in the First Four matchup of the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Their reward is a showdown with top-seeded Duke in the East Region.

It was a three-man show for the victors, as Jedy Cordilia (22 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals), Dallas Hobbs (17 points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals) and Dola Adebayo (22 points and four rebounds) stuffed the stat sheet.

American played the majority of the game without its leading scorer, Matt Rogers, thanks to a knee injury he suffered in the first half. Geoff Sprouse led the way with 18 points, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with Mount St. Mary's.

Social media had plenty of reaction for the Mountaineers:

Both teams had reason to be confident coming into the game given the way they played down the stretch.

Mount St. Mary's went 11-3 in its final 14 contests and won the MAAC tournament title game over Iona, while American was 15-3 in its final 18 games and defeated Navy in the championship game of the Patriot League tournament.

That set the stage for a back-and-forth battle, but the biggest early storyline was a knee injury to Rogers. He remained in the game following his initial setback but was eventually helped off the court during the first half after falling back to the ground.

With Rogers ruled out, Sprouse did what he could with red-hot shooting off the bench to keep the Eagles within striking distance. However, the Mountaineers built a 10-point halftime lead with Cordilia and Hobbs taking over as an unstoppable one-two punch.

Hobbs found his stroke from deep, while American had no answer for Cordilia in the lane.

Adebayo got in on the fun in the second half by also consistently getting into the lane and piling up points. The Mountaineers had three go-to options as they expanded the lead in the second half, while the Eagles were without their one primary playmaker who could have realistically countered the trio.

Rogers' absence was also felt defensively, as Adebayo and Cordilia took over inside the paint and at the rim.

To American's credit, it cut the lead to single digits in the final minutes by unleashing a full-court press and creating some havoc. However, it was ultimately too steep of a deficit to overcome.

Things will obviously be more difficult for Mount St. Mary's against Duke, but the trio of Cordilia, Hobbs and Adebayo can help it stay close and put a scare in the top seed.

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