Tuesday, November 27, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men's basketball team dropped their first home loss of the season to visiting non-conference foe Wheaton College falling 91-76 Tuesday evening.
The Mustangs never led trailing by a game-high 26 points (68-42) with 12 minutes remaining in the contest eventually taking the defeat. The hosts, who have been very consistent shooting so far this season, had their coldest night of the year at 35% from the floor and a miserable 27% from downtown. The visiting Lyons dominated inside the arc shooting 55% for the game.
The Mustangs drop their second loss of the season falling to an overall record of 2-2 while the Lyons hold perfect for the year at 4-0. Neither team has yet to play in a conference match-up.
Wheaton plowed through a 14-2 run to open the game capped off on a successful jumper by junior guard Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton School) with 14:41 to go in the first stanza.
The visiting advantage would grow to a half-high 22 points (34-12) after a three point play the hard way converted by Lyon sophomore forward Eddie Capstick (Worcester, MA/Marianapolis Prep). The Mustangs cut the lead to 16 points (39-23) after a good trifecta from sophomore guard Aaron Kelly (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) with 3:46 before the midway point.
The Wheaton lead inflated back up to over 20 heading into the locker room with the hosts down 24 (54-30) finalized on a buzzer beating three pointer from Lyon sophomore guard Jaycob Morales (Lawrence, MA/Central Catholic). Morales converted two of his four attempts from beyond the arc to lead the visitors adding 16 points and two assists on the night.
Mount Ida's deficit continued to hover around 20 points through the first five minutes of the second stanza down 62-42 following a successful jumper from sophomore forward Ryan Clinesmith (New York, NY/The Hill School). Clinesmith was impressive leading all scorers with 23 points and nine rebounds on 9-15 shooting going 5-6 from the line for the visitors.
The lead grew to a game-high 26 points, twice, through the next four minutes capped on a good trifecta from Lyon senior guard Scott Faucher (Lebanon, NH/Kimball Union Academy) going ahead 71-45 with 11:39 remaining.
It was all Wheaton from then on out; the Mustangs would eventually cut the advantage down to 15 points with under a minute to go but it was too late for any kind of comeback with the hosts swallowing a 91-76 non-league loss with a bad taste.
Mount Ida was led offensively by freshman guard John Fortes (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) with 21 points on 8-16 shooting. Freshman guard Kyle Jimenez-Fox (East Boston, MA/East Boston) knocked down three trifecta's adding 13 points and three steals while freshman Cameron Walker (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) chipped in 12 points and seven boards. Senior center Jeffrey McNair (Brockton, MA/Brockton) tallied 10 points and seven rebounds respectively.
Following a strong performance from Clinesmith, the Lyons saw sophomore forward Mike O'Loughlin (Milford, NH/Milford) added 17 points and eight rebounds on 9-15 shooting with eight rebounds and two steals.
Mount Ida will travel to non-league Framingham State University Thursday evening with tip-off coming at 6:00 p.m. while the Lyons will hosts non-conference Regis College (MA) on the same night starting at 7:00 p.m.
