MEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO VISITING ST. JOE'S (ME)

Junior point guard Darren Martinez (Mattapan, MA/Brookline) netted a personal season high 22 points for Mount Ida College men's basketball, but it wasn't enough to overpower visiting Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe St. Joseph's College (ME) losing 78-66.  The Mustangs drop to 6-6 on the season along with their fourth consecutive conference loss.  The Monks improve to 10-4 overall 4-3 in the GNAC.

Mount Ida had a difficult start with only two points showing on the scoreboard in the opening four minutes.  The visitors went on a 12-0 run taking the outright 12-2 advantage and the 10 point lead. 

It was a struggle for the Mustangs for the next eight minutes trialing 23-11 with 8:51 to go in the half while Monks junior Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY/Walt Whitman) sunk two free throws to give his squad the 12 point lead.

Although Mount Ida cut the visitors advantage to seven at the 5:30 mark, St. Joe's inflated the lead back to 12 with 2:29 remaining in the half.  The teams would eventually head into the locker room with the Monks up by a dozen at 38-26.

The Mustangs came out of the locker room fired up and cut the lead to three points in the opening five minutes of the second half powered by Martinez and senior Matt Bennett (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) during the comeback. 

Unfortunately for Mount Ida, the visitors would not let them into their kitchen.  The Mustangs could not get closer than six points for the remainder of the game cutting the advantage to six, three times before the end of the contest, not enough to produce a retort.

The Monks would eventually ride home with the 78-66 victory over the Mustangs good for their fourth conference victory of the season.

Mount Ida struggled again from all aspects of the court, including three point land, going 6-23 for 26 percent.  Although they left with a victory, the visitor weren't very good either at 30 percent from downtown. 

Along with Martinez, Bennett notched a double-double with 17 points and 13 caroms while freshman Johrone Bunch (Meriden, CT/F.T. Maloney) scored nine points with four boards.  Senior Otis Thompson (Gardner, MA/Gardner) chipped in eight points for the Mustangs.

The Monks had four players in double figures with Eatmon leading the pack with a double-double of his own with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Freshman Zack O'Brien (Schenectady, NY/Bishop Gibbons) also netted 16 points with five assists.  Sophomore Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) and senior Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY/Albany Academy) netted 12 a piece.

The Mustangs will head to GNAC first place holder Lasell College this coming Monday with tip-off coming at 7:00 p.m.