The Mount Ida College men's basketball dropped their final regular season Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest at St. Joseph's College (ME) this past Saturday by a score of 81-63. The Mustangs fall to 15-10 overall, 10-8 in the GNAC and will head into the GNAC men's basketball post-season conference tournament as the fourth seed and will host Johnson & Wales University Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.
Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME) poured in a career-high 31 points off a 13-18 performance from the floor and Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY) netted his 1,000th career point. Eatmon needed just two points to become the 32nd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark in their career, and he took care of the feat early with a dunk, off a Zach O'Brien (Schenectady, NY) pass, just 18 seconds into the game. Since this was the last regular-season home contest, Eatmon and fellow senior Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, MA) were honored with a ceremony prior to the game.
The Monks never trailed and led by as much as 28 points early in the second half. For the second-consecutive game, St. Joe's was lights-out from three-point range, as the Royal Blue shot 47.4% (9-19) from downtown. The Mustangs' shooters were unable to keep up, as the visitors posted a 28% (7-25) performance from long range. The Monks also were considerably better from the line, outshooting the Mustangs, 87.5% (14-16) to 60.9% (14-23) in the win.
Chris Petzy (Kensington, NH) was 3-5 from beyond the arc and scored 15 and Rue chipped in with 13 points for Saint Joseph's. Anthony Savino (Portland, ME/Cheverus) added eight points and two blocks, Rashon Jones (Bridgeport, CT) grabbed a team-best 8 caroms and Julio Vazquez (Waterbury, CT) handed out a game-and-career-high none assists in the lopsided win.
Eatmon attained another milestone in the victory, as his blocked shot 2:44 into the contest was the 100th of his career, making him the sixth player in team history to reach the mark. Also, Eatmon needs 18 boards to reach 800 and 13 assists to reach 250.
Darren Martinez (Dorchester, MA/Brookline) was the lone Mount Ida player to reach double-digits and scored 14 points and Joseph Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) corralled a game-high nine rebounds for the Mustangs. Nick Lynch (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) and John Figueroa (Hartford, CT Howell Cheney Tech.) both tallied eight points for the visitors.
St. Joe's opened up the conference contest on with a 13-4 run, as Rue (6) and Kelley (5) combined for 11 of the SJC points in the first 5:09 of play. Mount Ida managed to cut the hosts' lead to 19-12 with a Lynch three at the 12:11 mark, but Kelley scored seven points in an 11-1 SJC outburst that ended with the Monks ahead by 17, 30-13, with 9:54 before the break.
The Mustangs managed to stay in the game with an 8-0 burst over the next three minutes, cutting the St. Joe's lead to 30-21, but the Monks put the game out of reach for good with a 14-3 barrage that included a pair of treys from Petzy and seven points from Kelley. The Monks carried a 57-35 cushion into the locker room and shot a scorching 62.5% from the floor in the first period. The Mustangs countered with a paltry 28.1% rate from the field.
Kelley led all scorers with 24 points and was 10-12 from the floor and 3-4 from three-point distance in the first half. Martinez paced the visitors with nine first period points.
Saint Joseph's went on to lead by at least 20 for the rest of the game and gained a game-best 28-point advantage on three occasions in the first five minutes of the second stanza.
Jack LaFreniere (Alton, NH) collected his first collegiate points with a layup off a Tommy Ray (Cape Elizabeth, ME) pass at the 1:24 mark. Also, Rue surpassed the 600-point mark and Kelley shot past the 700-point plateau in the victory.
St. Joe's shot 49.2% (30-61) overall, 47.4% (9-19) from three-point range, and 87.5% (14-16) from the line, while Mount Ida shot 31.3% (20-64) from the field, 28% (7-25) from downtown and 60.9% (14-23) from the charity stripe. The Mustangs held a 42-38 edge on the glass, with 18 offensive caroms, and St. Joe's forced 19 Mount Ida turnovers in the contest.