The Mount Ida College men's basketball team continues to struggle through the beginning of the 2010/2011 season dropping their fourth straight contest, this time at the hands of visiting non-conference Fitchburg State University, by a score of 64-55 Thursday evening in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs prolong their slide falling to an overall record of 2-5 while the Falcons capture their third victory of the season improving to 3-6. The hosts have yet to win a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) as well standing at 0-2.
Mount Ida led in the beginning of the first half (16:36) up 4-2 after a successful lay-in by junior captain Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School).
The visitors countered with a 9-0 run leading 11-4 after multiple Mustang miscues capped off on a jumper by Falcon freshman Josh Stambovsky (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) with 12:33 on the clock.
The hosts woke up for a couple minutes to regain the advantage leading 16-15 at the 9:28 mark following another lay-in by Benjamin.
That was the last time the Mustangs would see the lead falling behind by seven (25-18) with 3:11 remaining before the break after a successful lay-in by junior Stephen Verdi (Revere, MA/Malden). The visitors eventually went ahead by nine points after two good free throws by junior Sean Sullivan (Lexington, MA/Lexington) leading 29-20 at the end of the half.
It didn't get any better for Mount Ida in the beginning of the second stanza watching the Falcons build their lead to a game high 14 points (41-27) at the 15 minute mark following a jumper in the paint by senior Elliot Knower (Baldwinville, MA/Narragansett).
The Mustangs struggled to shoot the ball for the entire second set unable to put together any type of run for a comeback. The Falcon lead remained in the double digits down the stretch and ultimately handed Mount Ida their fourth consecutive loss downed 64-55.
The hosts were outrebounded and out shot for the entire game, although they limited their turnovers to only 16 for the game to Fitchburg's 21, they had serious problems finding the bottom of the net both in the field (35%/50%) and at the line.
Mount Ida was led by Benjamin with a game high 15 points adding three each in rebounds and assists. Junior captain Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) chipped in a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. Junior captain Jimmy Wenz (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) played well adding eight points going 2-3 from downtown.
The Falcons had three players in double figures; Verdi added a game high 16 points with five caroms while Knower went 8-12 at the line with 14 points and seven boards. Junior Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg) chipped in 10 points and four dishes.
The Mustangs will have one more contest before the semester break against visiting non-conference Wheelock College Tuesday evening with tip-off slated for 6:00 p.m.