The Mount Ida College men's basketball team gave up an 11-2 run over the final 2:50 surrendering a 67-54 non-conference loss to hosting University of New England Saturday afternoon.  The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 2-2 while the Nor'Easter's capture their first win of the season (1-5).

The Mustangs were led by junior Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) with 13 points while junior Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) and junior Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Senior Chas Rentrope (Peoria, AZ) paced the Nor'easters with a game-high 18 points to go along with six steals and five rebounds. Junior Marcus Winn (Austin, Texas) added 17 points, including a 5-for-6 performance from behind the arc. Junior Ryan Knotek (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) posted his first career double-double, tallying 14 points and a personal-best 14 boards.

After the opening basket of the game went for Benjamin, a Rentrope hoop and a trey from junior Jordan Stinglen (South Berwick, ME) at the 16:16 mark gave UNE the advantage for good. The cushion got up to as many as eight (14-6) during the first half, before the hosts settled for a 30-25 lead at the break.

Cabral, Winn, and Bejamin exchanged three-pointers to start the second period, before the hosts went on a 14-4 spurt over the next 4:33 to increase the margin to (47-35).

With 8:08 left to play, the Mustangs had closed the gap to within two points (49-47), but could not get any closer.

UNE shot 52.6 percent (10 of 19) from the floor after halftime, and hit 4-of-6 from deep. Mount Ida struggled to just 26.9 percent (7-for-26) shooting in the final frame.

The Mustangs will indulge in their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) bid Saturday after the entire week off.