The Mount Ida College men's basketball dropped their second straight home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss falling 92-81 to visiting foe and 2009 defending conference champion Albertus Magnus College Thursday evening in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 4-8 and continue to slide in the conference standings (1-4) while the visitors improve to 6-5 overall going 4-1 in the GNAC.
Mount Ida opened the first half streaking a 7-0 run capped off by a good jumper by junior captain Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) with 16:31 showing on the clock.
The visitors came right back with a 9-1 run of their own to take a one point lead after a successful lay-in by sophomore David Armstrong (Bridgeport, CT/Harding) to lead 9-8 with 13:02 to go in the half.
The score when back and forth for the next four minutes with seven lead changes during the stretch with the visitors holding a 28-23 advantage following a fast break dunk by Falcon sophomore Raymond Askew (New Haven, CT/Career) with just under ten minutes to go.
Albertus Magnus eventually built a half high nine point lead after a good lay-in by junior Walden St. Juste (Hartford, CT/Bulkeley) up 34-25 with 7:36 remaining before the break.
Mount Ida chipped away in the final minutes and eventually cut the visiting advantage to a deuce (39-37) after two consecutive tricfecta's from junior Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole). The Falcons would head into the locker room with a three point lead up 40-37.
The Mustangs struggled to keep pace with the visitors for almost the entire second half with lights out shooting by the Falcons from beyond the arc. They would jump ahead by a game high 14 point lead with 3:56 to go in the half with no answer from the hosts.
Mount Ida cut the visiting advantage to three points five times throughout the first 15 minutes of the second stanza but could not get over the hump to tie the game. The Falcons eventually closed out the second half leaving Mount Ida with a 92-81 GNAC victory.
The visitors shot an impressive 50 percent from downtown in the second half and 40 percent for the game. Mount Ida kept pace shooting 34 percent for the game but could not keep up.
The Mustangs were led by junior Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) dropped in a game high 29 points adding five assists. Junior transfer David Gibbs (East Hartford, CT/UMASS-Amherst) chipped in 19 point and six assists while Cabral went 3-6 from outside the arc netting 15 points.
St. Juste led the Falcons with 22 points while Askew wasn't far behind with 21 points and 11 boards good for a double-double. Freshman Darius Watson (New Britain, CT/New Britain) added 20 as well.
The Mustangs will travel to GNAC member Suffolk University this coming Saturday with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m.