 |  |
MEN'S BASKETBALL DOWNED BY WILDCATS 72-66
The Mount Ida College men's basketball team fought back from an early 18-4 first half deficit battling host Wheelock College to the final minutes only to fall short, 72-66, at the end for their third loss of the season Tuesday night in non-conference action in their final game before the break. The Mustangs fall to 6-3 overall and remain 1-1 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play while the Wildcats improve to a 6-2.
After falling behind by 14 points (18-4) in the opening 5:19 of the contest, the Mustangs chipped away throughout the entire first half eventually cutting the deficit to six (25-19) points with 4:41 to go before the midway point on a sophomore Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Wapole) lay-in.
The Mustangs held tough against a surging offense of Wheelock with the Wildcats inflating the margin to seven points (34-27) after a Jordan Pina (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) trifecta. The Mustangs cut the hosts lead to four (36-32) heading into halftime on a buzzer beater three-pointer by senior captain Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline).
Sophomore forward Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) gave the Mustangs their first lead of the contest (43-41) with 15:14 to go starting the second half. The teams would exchange the advantage four times through the next seven minutes keeping a solid pace with each other down to the wire.
After two good free throws by Hillery with 8:13 remaining in the game, the Mustangs took a one point (55-54) lead. A minute later, following a couple of botched possessions on either side, the Wildcats took back the advantage up 55-56 after a lay-up by junior Dan Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale).
That would be the last time the Mustangs had the lead, they pulled within two points twice in the final two minutes, but costly misses from the free throw line followed up by key baskets from the Wildcats, handed Mount Ida the 72-66 loss.
Mount Ida did not have a stellar day from their usually reliable spot from downtown going 4-23 on the day for a measly 17.4 percent.
The Mustangs were led by Martinez with a team high 19 points, his biggest total of the season thus far, along with six assists and three blocks. Hillery was also solid with 13 points and four rebounds while freshman John Figueroa (Hartford, CT/Howell Cheney Tech) notched 10 points dishing out four assists.
Main was clutch from the charity stripe on the night, going 12-15 and nailing nine in the final two minutes of regulation. Robbins notched 13 points for Wheelock while Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, Fla) and Patsy Dinuzzo (Beaver, Penn.) each had ten points for head coach John Preziosa's team.
The Mustangs will head into the break at 6-3 overall, close to last season's holiday break total of 6-2, and will travel to Johnson and Wales University for some GNAC action on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 starting at 3:00 p.m. in Providence, Rhode Island. See you in 2010!
