Tuesday, November 29, 2011 (Norton, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men's basketball team dropped their first loss of the season at hosting non-conference Wheaton College Tuesday evening in Norton, Massachusetts by a score of 75-61. The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 2-1.
Senior Keith Jones (Boston, Mass./Mass.-Bay CC) finished with a game-high 19 points leading Mount Ida. Mount Ida forward Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) went for 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists while senior guard and captain Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/The Masters School) recorded 13 points and six helpers.
Wheaton junior Cliften Desravines (Somerville, MA/Taft School) scored a career-high 17 points and blocked four shots along with a game high 12 caroms. Senior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) added 16 points, eight rebounds, and three steals while classmate Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) came off the bench and knocked down three 3-point field goals en route to a season-high 16 points. Sophomore Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton Academy) chipped in with 10 points and a team-high five assists.
Mount Ida jumped out to a 13-7 lead until a 14-0 run by the Lyons snuffed out the hot Mustang start trailing 21-13 with 6:30 to go in the first half. Degnan scored eight of the Lyons 14 points during the run while Desravines added four. Mount Ida answered with a 16-8 run to close the first half with the score tied at 29.
After shooting just 27 percent in the first half (9-of-33), the Lyons connected on 62 percent of their second-half attempts – including four of their eight shots from downtown – and outscored the Mustangs (2-1) by 14 over the final 20 minutes of the game. Wheaton scored the first six points of the half – including a pair of layups by Degnan – to take a six-point lead just over two minutes in. Later, back-to-back buckets by Weeks pushed the Lyons lead to 10 (50-40) with 11:39 on the clock, and their lead never dipped below six points the rest of the way. A three-point play by Desravines with 5:59 remaining sparked an 11-2 run that gave Wheaton a 69-53 advantage with 3:38 to go. Weeks scored eight points during the run – highlighted by a pair of triples.