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MEN'S HOOPS FALLS IN HEARTBREAKING GNAC LOSS TO LASERS
In front of a packed house on senior night, the Mount Ida College men's basketball team led by a game high 16 points with 10:45 remaining in the contest, but visiting Lasell College scorched a 26-10 run to finish the half while tying the contest in the final seconds forcing overtime. The Lasers eventually wore out the Mustangs in the extra period capturing an 85-78 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over hosting Mount Ida Wednesday night in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs, who beat Lasell (81-79) back on January 26th in the final seconds on a couple of free throws, fall to 15-9, 10-7 in league play while the Lasers improve to 10-14, 8-9 in the conference. Although the Mustangs fell tonight, they will host their first ever GNAC post-season contest next Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. with their opponent to-be-announced.
Mount Ida led from the opening tip throughout the first half building a solid eight point advantage up 11-3 capped off with a trifecta from sophomore Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Cathedral) with 12:58 showing on the clock. The Mustangs held the visitors to just three points for the opening eight minutes of the contest.
Freshman John Figueroa (Hartford, CT/Howell Cheney Tech.) ignited the Mustangs after checking in at the 12 minute mark scoring eight points during a three and a half minute span giving his team a half high 11 point lead with 7:27 to go before the break.
The visitors eventually cut the Mount Ida advantage down to four points after a made three pointer by freshman Brett Heimann (Miami, FL/LaSalle) down 30-26 with 3:08 to go in the half. The Mustangs headed into the locker room with a three point lead after Laser freshman Justin Harris (New Orleans, LA/Edna Karr) buried a three at the half time buzzer trailing 35-32.
Mount Ida came out hot rebuilding a commanding 12 point lead in the opening three minutes of the second half capped off with an Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) trifecta up 46-34 with 17:03 showing on the clock.
The double digit advantage was maintained by the Mustangs for the next seven minutes and eventually inflated the lead to a game high 16 points on a Nick Lynch (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) three pointer.
This was the turning point of the contest with the Lasers putting together a solid 26-10 run to tie the game (70-70), hitting key shots down the stretch to gain a ton of confidence and momentum. Although they gave up a 16 point advantage with 10 minutes to play, the Mustangs had a chance to finish off the Lasers right at the end. Unfortunately for Mount Ida, they had a mental lapse in the final ticks and missing a tough shot in the paint with time expiring to send the game into extra time.
The Mustangs never led in overtime while they watched the visitors hit all their shots and free throws down the stretch never giving Mount Ida a chance. The Lasers ultimately cruised to the 85-78 conference win in front of a packed house with not a seat left untaken.
Mount Ida saw four players in double figures with Jones, Benjamin, and Figueroa all chipping in 13 points each and a combined 11 rebounds. Senior Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) notched 11 points and six assists while sophomore Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) netted seven points and 10 caroms.
The performance of the evening goes to Lasell sophomore Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA/Cathedral) scoring 29 of his game high 37 points in the second half to will his squad to the victory missing a double-double by one rebound (9). The only other Laser in double figures was Harris with 16 points and five assists. Sophomore Dominik Orlow (Slupsk, Poland/Henry P. Becton) pulled down 10 boards.
The Mustangs will travel to St. Joseph's College (ME) for their final regular season game of the season on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m.
