For the last few decades, Mount Vernon has possessed a unique blend of depth, a high horsepower attack, and blanketing wall to wall press to develop a notable upper hand on Section 1 competition.

With several local programs eager to prove they are on the same plane as the storied Knights, however, the Class AA power has found themselves in numerous tight games these past few weeks of the regular season.

They lost a heart breaker to Scarsdale for the first loss on their home floor in recent memory, fell to Iona Prep, but were able to close out a dizzying battle against Ridgewood (NJ) on an acrobatic bank shot through traffic that wound up beating the buzzer in Saturday's pulsating 65-64 victory.

On Monday, the Knights got back to playing vintage Mount Vernon basketball on the hone court they've been so prosperous on prior to being humbled by Scarsdale on Carlos Rodriguez' dagger 3-pointer in a 60-59 upset loss.

The Knights rode two significant second half surges en route to a 66-51 victory over North Rockland on Monday night. With the win, the Knights move to 16-4 overall, 9-1 against Section 1 competition.

The Knights stormed back from a 31-28 halftime deficit on a 12-0 third quarter run that woke up their offense following a stagnant first half.

Tavien Tyler kick-started the run with a deep 3-pointer, as the Knights cut the deficit to 33-31.

They proceeded to score nine unanswered points, with left-handed senior guard Elijah Morris' deep 3-pointer capping the power surge and giving the Knights a 40-33 lead with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter.

A seasoned senior guard, Wein thwarted the run with a deep 3-pointer that cut the Knights' lead to 40-36 with 3:08 left to play in the third.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights seized control of the game with a 10-0 run that culminated with a transition layup by Morris and another 3-pointer from Tyler that gave the Knights a commanding 56-41 lead with 6:30 remaining in the fourth.

After hitting four 3-pointers during a loss to Iona Prep last weekend, Tyler again toted the hot hand and connected on three 3-pointers to spearhead the Knights' perimeter game.

The Knights were able to shed the habit of firing up off balanced shots and playing to a sped up tempo in the first half, settling down and running their offense while emphasizing the extra pass.