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MEN'S HOOPS DROP SECOND STRAIGHT GNAC BID TO LIONS

MEN'S HOOPS DROP SECOND STRAIGHT GNAC BID TO LIONS
Posted: Dec 07, 2010

The Mount Ida College men's basketball dropped their second consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss at the hands of hosting Emerson College falling 75-61 in Boston, Massachusetts Tuesday evening.  The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 2-4 now standing at 0-2 in conference play. 

Emerson College got 17 points from Carlos Negrete (Orange County, CA) and a dozen from Nate Firn (Wadesboro, NC) to hold off Mount Ida.  The Mustangs struggled to keep pace with the visitors for most of the contest and fell short down the stretch.

Emerson led throughout a close first half until the Mustangs hit four straight free throws to take their only lead of the game, 24-23 with 4:54 remaining in the period.  Firn hit two free throws to regain the advantage for the Lions, and a four-point play from Bilali Kalilou-Mack (Windsor, CT) stretched the margin to 29-24.

Two Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) layups sandwiched around a Firn layup crept the Mustangs to within three on two different occasions, but Negrete canned a three-ball to push the lead back to six.  The teams traded baskets to end the half with Emerson holding a 36-32 edge at the break.

Five quick points to begin the second half on a Firn layup and a Tom Messinger (Florence, MA) three gave the Lions some breathing room.  Emerson went up by as much as a dozen points on two free throws and a layup by Negrete, but the Mustangs clawed back to within 53-48 on a Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) layup with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Emerson responded with a 10-2 run to regain control, getting points from five different players during the stretch.  The final margin was the largest advantage of the game.

Benjamin led all scorers with 24 points.  He was the only Mustang in double figures.  In addition to Firn and Negrete, Kabir Moss (Chico, CA) had 10 points for Emerson.  The Lions feasted off Mustang turnovers scoring 36 of their points off Mount Ida miscues.

The Mustangs will host non-conference Fitchburg State on Thursday with tip-off slated for 6:00 p.m.