Saturday, January 13, 2013 (Newton, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men's basketball team held a 12 point advantage early in the second half only to see the lead vanish late in the game eventually falling 79-70 to visiting Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) member Norwich University Saturday afternoon in the back end of a double header with the women's team.
The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 5-9 dropping to 1-6 in league play while the visitors improve to 4-9 for the year, 1-5 in GNAC action.
Mount Ida saw all five starters in double figures for points led by freshman forward Cam Walker (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) with 18 points on 5-14 shooting while sophomore transfer Aaron Kelly (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) notched the only double-double of the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward John Fortes (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) added 12 points while senior captain Brett Heimann (Miami, FL/Lasell College) and junior center/forward Kenny Jean (Dorchester, MA/Brighton) chipped in 10 points each.
For Norwich, senior guard Josh Cabrera (Providence, RI/Classical) was impressive notching a game-high 26 points on 8-12 shooting going 3-4 from downtown including two big shots at the end of the contest to snuff out the Mustangs hopes for a win. Junior forward Tom McDonald (Groton, MA/Cushing Academy) added 16 points while sophomore forward Evan Tullar (Chelsea, VT/Spaulding) tallied 10 points and seven caroms.
The entire first half was very close with no more than a couple of baskets separating the action featuring five ties. Mount Ida surged ahead following a 14-2 run taking a commanding 16 point advantage (48-32) finalized on a Heimann trifecta. The Mustangs would head into the midway point with a 48-36 advantage.
The hosts held their double-digit lead through the first five minutes of play up 12 (55-43) after a successful lay-in by Jean.
A 10-0 run by the visitors ensued cutting Mount Ida's advantage down to two points (55-53) capped on a three point play the hard way by Cabrera with 12 minutes to go in the game.
The Mustangs clung to their dwindling lead up by five points after a good jumper by Fortes with 7:21 to go before the final horn.
Norwich would take the lead for the first time since the opening stanza with 5:24 remaining on another good trifecta from Cabrera going ahead 65-62.
Mount Ida fought to try and repair the damage that was inflicted by Cabrera and the Cadets late in the contest but it was all but over for the hosts handing the Mustangs a 79-70 GNAC loss.
MIC men's basketball will travel to St. Joseph's College (ME) for another GNAC match-up Tuesday evening with game time slated for 7:30 p.m. Norwich will head to Boston, Massachusetts to take on Emerson College league action starting at 7:30 p.m.