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MEN'S HOOPS CONTINUES TO ROLL, KNOCKS OFF NORWICH 91-89
With four seconds remaining in overtime, Mount Ida College men's basketball sophomore Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/the Masters School) sunk two free throws to seal a 91-89 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over visiting Norwich University Saturday in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs improve to 13-5, 8-3 in league play while the Cadets go home and fall to 11-7, 6-5 in the GNAC. Mount Ida sits alone in fourth place in the conference standings after the victory riding a three game winning streak in conference action.
Although the hosts netted the first basket of the game (2-0) on a jumper by sophomore Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic), the visitors held the advantage for the bulk of the first half leading by nine points (26-17) on a Cori Boston (Boston, MA/Robert Morris Univ.) jumper with 8:21 remaining on the clock.
The Mustangs took over the lead with 5:19 before the break after a commanding 10-0 run capped off on a Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Cathedral) trifecta up 29-26. Mount Ida eventually inflated their advantage to a half high 10 points up 42-32 with a little over a minute to go in the half. Mount Ida would head into the locker room with a 42-35 lead over the Cadets and a lot of momentum.
After a successful three point play by Jones in the opening of the second half, Mount Ida would build a game high 14 point lead with 15:43 to go in the second half. The Mustangs maintained the double digit margin for the next seven minutes holding a 10 point advantage after a Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) lay-in at the 6:28 mark.
It looked as if the Mustangs would cruise through the rest of the second stanza to victory, but the Cadets had other plans powering a 10-0 run of their own, tying the score at 69-69 and gaining a full head of steam in the process.
Mount Ida shook off the pressure and eventually pulled ahead by eight after eight consecutive points by Jones leading 81-73 with a minute and 45 seconds to play in regulation.
A 7-0 run by Norwich immediately following cut the lead to a deuce (81-79) with under 30 seconds to go in the contest with most of the offense coming from junior Jaren Jeffcoat (Dallas, TX/Plano West) during the stretch.
After a foul by Jeffcoat, Mount Ida senior Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) sunk the back end of two shots from the charity stripe to lead by three with 10 seconds remaining up 79-82.
With nine seconds to go in the game, Martinez committed his fifth foul of the contest while Cadets sophomore Antonio Davis (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) went up for a lay-in. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the basket dropped pulling Norwich within a point and putting Davis on the line to tie it. Davis sunk the free throw to knot the game at 82-82 giving the Mustangs one last possession before the end of regulation. They could not get off a shot before the clock expired and the game would eventually go into overtime.
The visitors went ahead on the first basket of overtime (84-82), but it was eventually erased when the Mustangs powered a small 5-0 run to pull ahead 89-85 with 2:08 to go in OT.
The visitors tied it after a three point play the hard way on a lay-in and a foul shot by Quincy Williams (St. Louis, MO/Parkway South) followed by a Jeffcoat free throw knotting the score at 89-89.
With less than five seconds to go, Mount Ida's Benjamin drove the lane and was immediately fouled by Williams giving the sophomore the same scenario to end the game in the Lasell College contest last Tuesday. The outcome was exactly the same, with Benjamin sinking both. The Cadets launched a miracle half court shot at the buzzer, but it was air-balled giving the Mustangs the 91-89 victory.
Jones was the player of the game for Mount Ida dropping in a team high 26 points with five assists. Benjamin was also stellar for the Mustangs adding 20 points and four assists while sophomore Nick Lynch (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) played very solid minutes for his squad chipping in 10 points after Hillery had to sit out due to an ankle injury. Cabral was also outstanding down low, doing all the small things right against a much bigger Norwich squad netting nine points and nine caroms.
Jeffcoat scored a game high 29 points with eight rebounds showcasing an incredible performance. Three other Cadets were in double figures with Davis adding 13 points and 16 rebounds, good for the games only double-double.
The Mustangs will host another key GNAC match-up against visiting Johnson & Wales University Monday night at 6:00 p.m.
