NEWTON, Mass. – The youthful Mount Ida College men's basketball team was on display on Tuesday night at Mount Ida Athletic Center in the 2014 season opener against Pine Manor College, but despite some sparkling performances by the Mustangs, the visiting Gators emerged with an 89-75 non-conference victory.
Mount Ida freshman Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) scored a team high 18 points in his first collegiate game, including going 4-7 from behind the three-point line. All of DeFillippi's points came in the first half, in which Mount Ida shot 48.4% from the field.
First year Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) added six points and four assists, and came up one shy of a Mount Ida single-game record with seven steals.
The Gators were led offensively by Daylon Ore (Hartford, Conn.), who poured in 23 points on 8-15 shooting and 4-4 from downtown.
Ore made a layup and knocked down an early three-pointer to put the hosts ahead 8-2, then hit another trey to give the visitors a 17-12 advantage after Defillippi had pulled Mount Ida within two with a triple of his own, a feat he repeated for Mount Ida the next time down the court.
Pine Manor extended their lead to double-digits with a 12-0 run, punctuated by threes from Ore and Chancie Williams (Hartford, Conn.), who was one of four Gators in double-figures, with 11 points.
Mount Ida pulled back to within seven points on three-pointers by John Oliver (North Babylon, N.Y.), who netted nine points, and Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.).
Conner had ten points in his debut game, while Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) was also in double-digits, adding 11 points and co-leading the Mustangs with seven rebounds, along with Oliver and Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.), who scored seven points.
The teams went to the break with Pine Manor ahead by ten points, and Mount Ida would cut it to as little as eight with 12:37 left in the game on a pair of free throws by sophomore Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.), but Pine Manor scored 12 of the next 15 points, and thundering dunk by freshman Curtis Hyman (New Britain, Conn.), who had 16 points, gave the visitors a 76-59 lead with under eight minutes to play.
Cunningham hit a three-pointer and then converted a traditional three point play with three minutes to play to bring the game back to ten points, but Pine Manor, who shot 77.1% from the free throw line, including 83.3% in the second half, could not be overcome.
Conner had five assists and two steals for Mount Ida, while Tank Roberson (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Williams each had three dimes to lead the Gators. Brannon Shaw (Vero Beach, Fla.) added eight points and had three steals.
Mount Ida travels to Amherst College this weekend for a showing at the Amherst Tip-Off Tournament. The Mustangs will face Hunter College on Friday night and then, depending on their result, meet either Amherst or Johnson State on Saturday afternoon.
The Gators hit the road as well for a trip to Buffalo, N.Y., where they will play Point Park and Buffalo State in the Coles Classic.