MUSTANGS STAMPEDE HAULTED BY LIONS IN 66-61 LOSS

After trailing for almost the entire game, the Mount Ida College men's basketball team cut visiting Emerson College's advantage down to two points after a trifecta from sophomore Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/the Masters School).  But costly misses from the free throw line throughout the game by the hosts solidified the Mustangs first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss of the season falling 66-61 to the Lions Tuesday night at the Mount Ida Athletic Center.  The Mustangs snap a three game winning streak falling to 5-2 overall,  1-1 in GNAC play while Emerson snatches their first conference victory of the season improving to 3-4 on the year, 1-1 in GNAC competition. 

The visitors powered an immediate 11-2 run in the opening 3:48 of the first half capped off by two free throws by Lion senior Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, MA/Canterbury School).  The Mustangs pulled within a point scorching a 9-2 run of their own finished off after a trifecta by sophomore Johrone Bunch (Meriden, CT/F.T. Maloney) with 9:45 to go in the first half.

After a steal at midcourt, Bunch had a wide open basket for an easy dunk to tickle the crowd and boost the Mustangs over the Lions for their first lead of the contest up 18-16 at the 5:36 mark.  The advantage was quickly erased after a three pointer from Lion junior Kabir Moss (Chico, CA/Chico) giving the visitors the 19-18 lead.

Emerson built a small six point margin to separate the teams with 2:38 remaining in the half on a shot from downtown by Lion sophomore Dan Boylan (Royal Oak, MI/Shrine) up 24-18.  The Mustangs kept pace with the visitors pulling back within a point (28-29) after two free throws by sophomore Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic).  The half ended there with Mount Ida trailing Emerson 29-28 going into the locker room. 

The Mustangs swiped their second lead of the contest in the opening two minutes on two free throws by Hillery giving the hosts 30-29 advantage.  The lead was quickly snuffed out again after Lion sophomore Nathan Firn (Wadersboro, NC/Joseph A. Foran) cashed in off a lay-in, up 31-30. 

That was the last time Mount Ida would see the lead while the visitors went on a three point barrage inflating their advantage to a game high 13 on a lay-up by Shannon with 8:25 to go in the contest.

The Mustangs would not go away, like a pesky fly, continued to grind out the offense cutting the lead to a deuce on Benjamin's trifecta with 2:05 remaining.  It wasn't meant to be for Mount Ida with the Lions holding off the late comeback and riding home the 66-61 victory. 

Mount Ida was perfect in the first half from the charity stripe going 7-7 looking very confident.  It was a whole different ball game in second half going 6-15 from the line for a total of 13-22 in the game while the visitors were a solid 14-17.

Although the Mustangs out rebounded the Lions (37-34) and won the turnover battle (15-18) they still could not manage to capture the victory struggling from the field. 

The Mustangs were led by Martinez and freshman John Figueroa (Hartford, CT/Howell Cheney Tech.) who tallied 14 apiece.  Hillery was the only Mount Ida player perfect from the line (7-7) adding 11 points and three boards while sophomore Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) grabbed 12 caroms.

The Lions were led by Shannon with a game high 22 points and 11 rebounds along with six assists good for a double-double on the night.  Firn and Boylan combined for 25 points. 

The Mustangs are back in action this Thursday traveling to non-conference Fitchburg State College starting at 5:30 p.m.