MEN'S HOOPS OUTDUELED BY VISITING MONKS IN 71-56 LOSS

Down two (33-31) at the half, the Mount Ida College men's basketball team was only able to muster 25 points in the second stanza unable to contain the surging offense of visiting St. Joseph's College (ME) in a 71-56 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss Saturday in Newton, Massachusetts.  The Mustangs fall to 10-5 overall, 5-3 in GNAC play while the Monks take over lone possession of second place in the conference standings at 6-2, 11-4 on the season.

After Mount Ida scored the opening basket of the game, the visitors immediately jumped ahead by seven up 13-6 after a trifecta by sophomore Zach O'Brien (Schenectady, NY/Bishop Gibbons) with 16:08 to go in the first half. 

The Mustangs kept the game close and eventually tied it up at 22-22 with 8:17 remaining before the break on a made jumper by senior Bruce Cary (Standish, ME/Bonny Eagle).  It was back and forth for the next four minutes until the Monks powered an 8-0 run to surge ahead 33-25 with 3:14 showing on the clock.

Mount Ida followed suit mounting an 8-0 run of their own cutting the St. Joseph's advantage to a deuce at the end of the half on a lay-in by freshman John Figueroa (Hartford, CT/Howell Cheney Tech.).  The teams would head into the locker room with the Monks leading 33-31.

Sophomore Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) gave the Mustangs their first lead since the opening basket of the first half on a three pointer from the corner taking the 34-33 lead in the opening of the second stanza (18:26). 

The lead was relinquished immediately while the Monks hammered out a 10-0 run pulling ahead 46-36 with 14:52 to go capped off on a lay-up by senior Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY/Walt Whitman).

The Mustangs struggled to keep up with the high powered attack of St. Joseph's.  Mount Ida eventually cut the lead to six points after a sophomore Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Cathedral) trifecta down 52-46 with 11:45 remaining.

Unfortunately that's as close as Mount Ida would get while the visitors built a commanding 14 point advantage with 6:46 to go after an O'Brien lay-in (62-48).  The Monks went on to build a game high 15 point lead with 1:28 remaining in the contest with no answer from a deflated Mustangs offense.  Mount Ida could not get the ball to roll in their favor the entire day ultimately handing them the 71-56 GNAC loss. 

Mount Ida was led by senior captain Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) with a team high 13 points and five rebounds while Jones added 11 points and two steals.  Sophomore Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) added six points with nine rebounds. 

The visitors saw four players in double figures led by Eatmon with a solid 15 points and 15 caroms good for the only double-double of the day.  Junior Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) netted a game high 16 points going 4-6 from downtown.  Junior Rashon Jones (Bridgeport, CT/Warren Harding) chipped in 14 points and nine boards including an incredible lane driving dunk adding to his day's resume. 

The Mustangs will travel to GNAC and cross town rival Lasell College this coming Tuesday night starting at 8:00 p.m. for more conference action.