MEN'S HOOPS DROPS SECOND STRAIGHT AT EMERSON 87-56

The Mount Ida College men's basketball let hosting Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Emerson College open the game with an 8-0 run never looking back falling 87-56 Thursday night in Boston, Massachusetts.  The Mustangs fall to 13-7, 8-5 in conference play while the Lions improve to 14-6, 11-2 in the GNAC. 

Shooting a scorching 52 percent from the field in the first half, Emerson built a 46-26 lead by the intermission.  The Mustangs had no answer for Emerson's Bryan Rouse (East Greenwich, RI) as the burly pivot scored 14 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and was perfect on four free throws. 

The Lions opened the game on a three-point bomb by Alex Dempsey (Anchorage, AK) just 19 seconds into the contest.  Following a Mustang turnover Tom Messinger (Florence, MA) nailed a three of his own to give Emerson a 6-0 lead less than a minute into the game.  A Dempsey layup gave the Lions an 8-0 advantage.

Mount Ida answered on a long range shot by sophomore Nick Lynch (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) to cut the deficit to five points, but Rouse sank his first of two threes to move the margin back to eight.   A Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) lay-up brought the Mustangs to within 11-5, but that was as close as the team would get the remainder of the game.  The Lions gradually increased the lead throughout the first half scoring 15 points off Mustang turnovers, and the Lions' reserves outscoring the Mount Ida bench 9-1.

The Lions stayed hot in the second half hitting on 18 of 36 shots from the field.  Again the Emerson bench proved deeper, outscoring Mount Ida 16-4 with the non-starters.

Mount Ida sophomore Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Cathedral) tied Rouse for game scoring honors with 23, while Lynch added 14 points and seven caroms for the Mustangs.  Martinez and sophomore Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/the Masters School) chipped in six points apiece. 

Rouse had a huge game for Emerson with 23 points, eight rebounds two assists and a pair of steals.  Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, MA) had 15 points on seven of eight shooting from the field, while Messenger had 11 and Dempsey added 10.

The Mustangs will host another GNAC match-up this coming Saturday against visiting Rivier College on Mustang Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m.