MEN'S BASKETBALL DROPS SEVENTHN GNAC BID AGAINST RIVIER

The Mount Ida Men’s Basketball team fell to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Rivier College this past Saturday, 71-55, at the Mount Ida Athletic Center. The Mustangs drop to 6-11 overall and 3-7 in league competition while the Raiders climb to 10-7 overall and 7-3 in the GNAC.

As the Mustangs controlled the boards holding onto a slight lead halfway through the first half, Gino DiPietro (Westbrook, ME/Westbrook) led the offensive charge claiming six of his eight first half points off of 3-pointers. Otis Thompson (Gardner, MA/Gardner) made his presence felt in the paint grabbing eight rebounds. Firing from downtown is what kept the Mustangs in contention making four of eight 3-point field goals as the Raiders shot 33% from beyond the arch and 36% overall. Unfortunately, for MIC, a well fought first half ended with the Raiders climbing to a 29-26 advantage with a strong first half from Calvin Akers (Meredith, NH/Interlakes) who netted in 10 points.

The second half was controlled by the visitors while a halftime lead of three was stretched to 20 as Rivier went on a 21-4 run in the first nine minutes. Jeff Carpenter (Meredith, NH/Interlakes) had 12 of his 16 points and 10 of his 15 rebounds all in the second stanza. The Mustangs went cold in as they could not find a hot hand and keep up with the Raiders pace. Shooting percentage and rebounding is what kept the visitors from pulling away in the first half but their 54% 3-point shooting is what propelled them as they took over the game. Lance Bisson (Nashua, NH/ Nashua South) was the offensive threat for Rivier, netting four of five 3-pointers for the game and 18 points overall.

Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central), Darren Martinez (Stoughton, MA/Brookline), and DiPietro all scored in double figures for the Mustangs for 34 of the team’s 55 points. Thompson snagged a season high 14 rebounds and pitched in with nine points.

The Mustangs hit the road for their next game on January 31st against Norwich University at 7:00pm.