AMHERST, Mass. -- Mount Ida College held off Hunter College 70-68 on Friday night at LeFrak Gymnasium to collect their first win of the season and advance to the championship game of the Amherst College men's basketball Tip-Off Tournament.
Mount Ida (1-1) will now move into the championship game of the tournament against Amherst College, which will take place on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) led the Mustangs with 16 points on 6-8 shooting and 2-3 from the three-point line.
Freshman John Oliver (North Babylon, N.Y.) also hit a pair of three-pointers and had 12 points in the game, while Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) contributed 10 points and made the game-winning layup while being fouled with seven seconds to play.
Though McKearney missed his free throw for the three-point opportunity, the Mustangs held on when a last second three pointer by the Hawk's Gerard Carty missed the mark.
Brian Kruger had 13 points to lead Hunter, one of three players in double-figures for the Hawks (2-2), hitting 10-10 from the free throw line.
Mount Ida shot 51.3% from the field, including 57.14% in the first half, after which they held a slim 37-35 lead.
Hunter will play in the consolation game tomorrow at 1:00 pm against Johnson State, who fell to the hosts in the first game on Friday.