Mount Ida College men's basketball sophomore Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Cathedral) dropped in a career and game high 37 points en route to a 94-69 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over hosting Emmanuel College Thursday night in Boston, Massachusetts. The Mustangs have surpassed last year's overall win total (11) so far this season going 12-5, and have won more conference games this year than the previous two year in GNAC play (7-3). Mount Ida has now won two conference contests in a row and beat the Saints in both meetings they had this season (2-0).
The Saints jumped out to the first lead of the game on a lay-up by Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.) to go up 2-0. A jumper by Mount Ida's Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) and a matching one from Emmanuel's Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) tied the contest at 6-6 with 14 minutes on the clock. A put-back by Everson gave the Saints their second lead of the game, before Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) tied it up again at 8-8. Another Martinez hoop forced an Emmanuel timeout at 10-8 with 12:25 left in the half.
The Emmanuel shooters hit a dry spell and the Saints found themselves stuck at eight points for three minutes of action, while Mount Ida went on a 5-0 run to go up 13-8. Carter-Hill hit a shot in the paint to end the drought for Emmanuel with just under nine minutes left in the half and the Saints trailed 13-10.
A hoop by Armani Gill (Boston, Mass.) gave Emmanuel the lead at 18-17 and an and-one by Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) pushed the Saints' lead to 21-17, before Jones drained a three to cut the spread to 21-20 with five minutes to play. Another trifecta by Jones gave the Mustangs a 23-22 lead with 4:45 to go.
A bucket and the foul by Everson knotted the contest at 25-25 with 2:40 remaining in the half. A steal and a hoop by Gill put Emmanuel up 27-25 and forced a Mustang timeout. Two free throws by Jones brought the game to its seventh tie at 27-27 with two minutes left in the half. A put-back by Eric Spanbauer (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) gave the Saints a 29-27 cushion, before Jones tied it up again with two more from the charity stripe.
Despite committing 10 turnovers in the first half, compared to just six by the hosts, Mount Ida was able to take a 34-30 lead into halftime. Jones led all scorers at the half, hitting all three of his attempts from behind the arc. Everson led the Saints with seven points, while Duke chipped in with six in the first half.
The Mustangs opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play by Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) to go up 37-30. Consecutive hoops by Andre Fuller (Troy, N.Y.) and Gill cut the Mount Ida lead to four, 37-34. An Emmanuel three pointer by Gill was matched with a triple from Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) and the Mustangs led, 47-40, with 15 minutes left in the game.
Mount Ida was able to maintain a solid double-digit lead for the remainder of the half and went up by as many as 29 points late in the game. The visitors, who scored an incredible 60 points in the second half, came away with a 94-69 win.
The Mustangs shot well from the free throw line and knocked down huge shots in the second half. Mount Ida was 30 for 42 from the line, including a perfect 14 for 14 free throw shooting display by Keith Jones. Jones took over for the Mustangs in the second half, scoring 22 points in 17 minutes of action. He drained 5 of 6 from long range en route to his 37 points on the night.
Jones led a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Mustangs. Martinez had a near triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, while Cabral notched 11 points and nine rebounds. Hillery chipped in with 10 points in the win.
Duke led Emmanuel with 12 points. Everson dropped 11 points to go along with his nine rebounds, while Fuller finished with 11 points and five boards.
The Mustangs will head home after being on the road for the past couple of games to host Norwich University in the front end of an afternoon double header with the women's team starting at 1:00 p.m.