Thursday, January 31, 2013 (Providence, Rhode Island) - Senior forward/center Kenny Jean (Dorchester, MA/Brighton) tipped in the go-ahead bucket with time expiring to propel the Mount Ida College men's basketball team to a 59-57 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over hosting Johnson & Wales University Thursday evening in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Mustangs, who gave away a tough 81-77 loss to the Wildcats a week ago to the day, even the season series to 1-1 earning their third league win of the season (3-11) improving to 7-11 for the year. JWU drops a spot in the conference standings (4th) falling to an overall record of 10-11, 9-5 in GNAC play.
Sophomore Aaron Kelly (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) paced Mount Ida with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists points while freshman John Fortes (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) picked up 15 points and six boards in the victory for the Mustangs.
Junior Esaie Touze (Providence, RI/CCRI) led the way for Johnson & Wales, recording a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while freshman Quarry Greenway (Westchester, NY) was also in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds in the setback for the Wildcats.
Johnson & Wales controlled the action early and took their first double digit lead when a jumper by sophomore Jordan Jones (Providence, RI) made the score 16-6 with 11:51 left in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as 10 points in the stanza before taking the 37-27 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
Mount Ida chipped away at the JWU lead and tied the game 42-42 on a three pointer by Kelly with just over 13 minutes left on the clock. The two teams then spent the rest of the half trading leads with the score tied 57-57 on a layup by senior Dan Barbour with 2:22 remaining in the contest. Jean would tip in a rebound in the final ticks to put the Mustangs up 59-57. A desperation three pointer by JWU junior Curtis Lucas (Providence, RI) bounced off the rim as time expired to give Mount Ida the 59-57 victory.
The Mustangs will head home to host GNAC foe Emerson College Saturday afternoon with game time slated for 1:00 p.m.
Some Content Courtesy of Johnson & Wales University Sports Information