The Mount Ida College men's basketball dropped their second consecutive loss and fall in their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) bid, 70-63, at Emmanuel College Saturday afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts. The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 2-3 and are now 0-1 in conference play.
Emmanuel scored the game's first four points of the contest, all by junior Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) The hosts showcase good zone defense, which held the Mustangs to just two points in the first five minutes of the game.
Senior Tyrone Buchanan's (Detroit, MI) jumper six minutes into the half were Emmanuel's first points not score by Duke, ultimately pushing the score to 10-6 in favor of the Saints.
Freshman Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) gave the crowd some excitement with an acrobatic layup while driving to his right to double the Saints' lead to 18-9.
The Mustangs responded with 7:50 remaining in the half with a three-pointer by junior Nick Lynch (Hampton Bays, NY/Hampton Bays) that dropped in off the backboard to make it 22-16.
Mount Ida grabbed another two on a drive and layup by junior Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) to make the score 29-21 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.
Three final free throws made by junior Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) set the score at 35-29 in favor of the Saints at the end of the first half.
Mount Ida tallied 12 points off of turnovers compared to Emmanuel's nine for the half. Duke led all scorers with 13 points with both sophomore Xavier Everson (Rochester, NY) and senior Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, MD) notching three's for the Saints.
Emmanuel also shot 77.8 percent from the line while the Mustangs hit 72.7%.
Fuller gave the Saints two points coming out of the break with a delicate jumper and freshman D.J. Fazio (Methuen, MA) added a three moments later to push the score to 40-32.
Nearing the midway point of the half, junior Nate Jackson (Middleboro, MA) grabbed a key rebound from a missed Welles shot to force Emmanuel free throws. The Saints continued to hold an eight-point edge, making the score 48-40 following the play.
Fazio gave the fans another boost with a brilliant run down the side, added a head fake and dropped in a running lay-up making the score 54-45 in the process.
The Mustangs turned up the heat with just over five minutes remaining in the game, adding bucket in the paint to pull with three points, 57-54. The two teams traded baskets before a fast-break layup by Duke gave Emmanuel a 61-56 lead.
Everson and Buchanan were forced out of the game with five fouls each, so Emmanuel needed to look for other to help with the scoring. Freshman Theo Robinson (Springfield, MA) added a big layup on a fast break to give the Saints a 65-59 lead with just under a minute remaining.
Late free throws made by Fazio and Duke gave the Saints a 70-63 edge, which they would hold on to for the win.
Mount Ida was led by junior Travis Hillery's (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) 17 points with Benjamin adding 15 as well.
The Saints were led by Duke's 21 points and Buchanan's 10 rebounds. Fazio chipped in with 14 points and Robinson added nine rebounds to the cause.