MEN'S BASKETBALL TALLIES FOURTH WIN, Freshman Thomas Belton nets 25

The Mount Ida College Men’s Basketball team traveled to Wheelock College last night tallying their second victory against the Wildcats this year winning 73-61. It wasn’t as exciting when these teams met last in Newton Centre on November 29 when Junior center Otis Thompson (Gardner, MA/Gardner) won the game on a time expiring tip in. The Mustangs would lead the entire contest chalking up their fourth win of the season and their second consecutive victory bringing their overall record to 4-5, 1-1 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).

The Mustangs had the advantage the entire game controlling the boards and dominating the inside out-rebounding the Wildcats 47-37 and stretching their lead by as many as 14 points late in the game. Mount Ida would shoot an amazing 53 percent from the floor in the second half and an impressive 65 percent from the free throw line for the game, something that has hurt them in the past.

Freshman forward Thomas Belton (Springfield,MA/Springfield Central) went 7-11 shooting netting a game high 25 points with seven rebounds. He had struggled from the charity stripe earlier in the year but went 11-15 in last night’s contest to improve his percentage to .542. Newcomer Junior forwardMatthew Bennett (Rochester, NH/St. Lawrence University) fit right into the mix dropping in 11 points with four rebounds. Senior shooting guard Michael Dunham (Salem, NH/Salem) would tally 12 points while Thompson would continue to provide plenty of offense for the Mustangs with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Mount Ida will stay on the road to face two GNAC opponents traveling to Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH this coming Thursday, January 10 for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off. They will then head to Emmanuel College on Saturday the 12th for a 3:00 p.m. start.