The Mount Ida College men's and women's basketball teams kicked off their season this weekend both with trips to tournament play. The men headed to New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire with their first match-up against Lyndon State College taking a 74-71 victory. They faced the Hornets in game one last year in the same tourney winning 84-60. The women shipped off to Regis College in Worcester, Massachusetts for the annual season opening tip-off tournament. The lady Mustangs dropped to the hosting Pride by a score of 84-60. Each squad will cap off the competition this Sunday with the men playing for the championship against Fisher College at 4:00 p.m. The women will take on New England College for their final game starting at 1:00 p.m.
Mount Ida College freshman Jeff McNair (Brockton, MA/Brockton) led the Mustangs with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds to lead his team over the Lyndon State College Hornets 74-71 in the opening round of the New England College Tip-Off Tournament.
Lyndon State would score the opening three buckets of the game and hold a seven point lead just five minutes into the opening half. Mount Ida would storm back going on an 8-0 run and taking a 17-16 lead at the 12 minute mark. The two teams would continue to battle back-and-forth throughout the opening half as the Hornets would take just a 41-39 lead heading into halftime.
The second half was much of the same as the two teams would continue to exchange buckets throughout the half. The Mustangs would grab their largest lead of the game up six points with 3:12 remaining in regulation but again the Hornets would battle back tying the game at 70-70 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. Mt. Ida would go on to net a lay-up in the final minutes and convert on two fouls shots in the final 10 seconds capturing the 74-71 lead.
In addition to McNair the Mustangs were led by Dave Santos (Mattapan, MA/Ben Franklin Institute) who finished with 13 points and five assists. Mount Ida's Otis Thompson (Gardner, MA/Gardner) chipped in 11 points for the Mustangs.
Leading the way for Lyndon State was Cesar Martinez (East Harlem, N.Y.) who finished with a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Lyndon's Jose Fortunato (Boston, Mass.) finished with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Noah Fink (Marshfield, Vt.) finished with 13 points on the evening.
The Mount Ida College women's basketball team dropped an 84-66 loss to hosting Regis College this Saturday in their first game of the season. Mount Ida College junior Cherie Parisi (South Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) led the Mustangs with an impressive 20 points and eight rebounds while freshman Hannah Blum (Raleigh, NC/Broughton) chipped in 11 with three caroms and 5-6 from the charity stripe. Freshman Stephanie Crawford (Rockland, Mass.) led all Pride scores with 14 points on the night.
The Mustangs had a tough first half turning the ball over 21 times to the Pride. Managing the clock, and keeping Mt. Ida off the charity stride gave Regis a 43-37 lead going into halftime.
Mount Ida shot an impressive 56 percent from the floor to the Prides 36 percent. Determined to make the Mustangs stop the Regis College offensive attack, the plan worked to the Pride's favor as the Mustangs sent Regis to the line 21 times. Regis shot an impressive 79 percent from the line on the night.
Also contributing would be Jessica Page (Quincy, Mass.) and Sarah McNult (Hampstead, NH) with 12 points each. McNult grabbed eight rebounds, which led the Pride. Freshman Meagan Tobin (Quincy, Mass.) would also put in work for the Regis College, adding 13 points.
The Mustangs will play New England College for their final game of the tournament this Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m.