Sunday, November 27, 2011(Newton, Massachusetts) - Trailing by nine points early in the second half, the Mount Ida College men's basketball team used a 19-9 run through 10 minutes of play to command a game high 13 point advantage en route to a 72-64 non-league victory over visiting University of New England Sunday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts.
The Mustangs, who saw four player's double figure point totals, improve to a perfect overall record of 2-0 while the visitors leave at 0-4 still searching for the first win. Neither team has yet to compete in conference play; the Mustangs will see their first league action against Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and cross town rival Lasell College on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Keith Jones (Boston, MA/Lake Brantley (FL)/Mass.-Bay C.C.) paced the Mustangs offensively with a game-high 21 points while fellow senior Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) added 14 points and eight caroms. Senior captain Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) and junior center Jeffrey McNair (Brockton, MA/Brockton) chipped in 11 points a piece. Senior captain Joe Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole) was also solid with a game-high 13 rebounds and eight points.
The Nor'easters were led by senior J.D. Winn (Austin, TX/Del Valle) with 13 points going 3-3 from downtown and 5-6 from the floor. Senior guard Marcus Winn (Austin, TX/Del Valle) added 10 points while freshman Jordan Ferreira (Nantucket, MA/Nantucket) chipped in eight points and nine boards.
Both teams struggled offensively with the hosts jumping ahead 6-0 through the first five minutes of the game (15:00). It took the visitors till the 13:34 mark to score their first basket on a trifecta by J.D. Winn, his first of the three for the game (6-3).
The play remained sloppy on both ends with Mount Ida keeping a small advantage through the next couple of minutes. The visitors eventually tied the score (12-12) with 7:18 remaining in the half on another three ball from J.D. Winn.
The action went back and forth for the next couple of ticks until the Mustangs pulled ahead by four (20-16) with less than three minutes to go in the stanza following a Jones trifecta.
UNE found a way to hold a two point advantage (25-23) heading into the locker room finishing with two successful free throws by senior forward Ryan Knotek (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central).
The squads combined for a dreadful 18 combined turnovers with UNE's bench keeping their team in the game scoring 17 points in the first half.
To start the second stanza the visitors built a nine point advantage through the first three and a half minutes (17:29) capped on a lay-in by Nor'easter junior Nevin Lessard (Belgrade, ME/Messalonskee) up 34-25.
Mount Ida chipped away immediately following the hot start by the visitors charging through their 19-9 run that put them back on top by a game-high 13 points. The run was fueled by a combination of solid outside shooting from Jones and Benjamin and outstanding play under the boards by Cabral.
The visitors never gave up though pulling within four (55-51) points with 5:21 to go in the second half finished off on a Knotek lay-in.
But the Mustangs never backed off continuing to shoot the ball well down the stretch from the floor solidifying a 72-64 non-league victory good for their second of the year.
The shooting percentages were much stronger for the game after a more precise second half for both teams watching the hosts go 48.1 percent from the floor while the visitors were good for 37.7 percent. Neither team was very solid from the line with Mount Ida 50 percent to the Nor'easters 47.8 percent.
Before Mount Ida meets for the GNAC opener against the rival Lasers Saturday they will host non-conference Mitchell College Thursday night in Newton, Massachusetts with game time slated for 6:00 p.m.