Feb 1, 2010

MEN'S HOOPS SNAPS THREE GAME WIN STEAK WITH 78-59 LOSS

The Mount Ida College men's basketball team snapped a three game Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) winning streak at the hands of visiting Johnson & Wales University, 78-59, Monday night in Newton, Massachusetts splitting the season series for the year. The Mustangs fall to fourth place in the GNAC standings at 13-6, 8-4 in league play while the Wildcats improve to 8-11, 5-7 in the GNAC hanging on to sixth place in the conference standings.

The visitors build an eight point advantage right from the opening tip after an 8-0 run that the Mustangs could not contain. Mount Ida eventually chipped away at the deficit and cut the Wildcat lead to one point (12-11) after two converted free throws by freshman John Figueroa (Hartford, CT/Howell Cheney Tech.) at the 14:11 mark.

Unfortunately for the Mustangs, they were unable to stick with their opponents offensively who dominated the inside game building a 12 point advantage (28-16) with an exclamation point dunk by senior center Paul Nicholson (Halifax, NC/Weldon) with 7:01 remaining in the half.

Mount Ida continued to pressure their opponent trying to shake off their cold shooting streak cutting the Wildcat lead to four (30-26) after two successful free throws by sophomore Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) with 3:29 before the midway point.

After falling behind by eight towards the final ticks of the half, a well designed play by Mustang Head Coach Rico Cabral gave Benjamin a wide open trifecta with time running down, draining it, to cut the Wildcat advantage to five (29-34). The squads would head into the locker room with a five point advantage with a bulk of the momentum in favor of the Mustangs. 26 of Johnson & Wales 34 first half points were in the paint, 14 of them coming from Wildcat sophomore standout Lamonte Thomas (Providence, RI/The Met School).

The first two baskets of the second half went to the visitors up nine (29-38) with no answer from the hosts. Mount Ida eventually cut the lead to one point (50-51) after seven consecutive points from Figueroa and a Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) lay-in with 8:49 showing on the clock.

The Mustangs had some serious problems stringing together baskets in the second half shooting a measly 28 percent from the floor while their opposition was hot at 62.5 percent.

The Wildcats eventually build a game high 21 point lead towards the end of the game with zero answer from Mount Ida. Johnson & Wales ultimately rode home with a 78-59 GNAC win and deflating the victory high the Mustangs have had the past week.

The Mustangs were led by Figueroa with 13 points while sophomore Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) added 12 with six rebounds going 3-6 from downtown. Martinez chipped in 11 points with six caroms and two assists.

Thomas led the way for the visitors with a game high 22 points and nine rebounds. Junior Justin Adams (Providence, RI/Feinstein) scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half going 4-4 from the three point line. Junior Louis Ferreras (Providence, RI/C.C.R.I.) chipped in 14 points with five boards.

The Mustangs will travel to Emerson College this coming Thursday night for more GNAC action starting at 7:00 p.m. The Mustangs fell to the Lions back in early December, 66-61, in their first match-up of the season.



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