AMHERST, Mass. – Mount Ida College showed tremendous fight against the second ranked team in the nation, eventually finishing as runners up at the 2014 Ken Wright Invitational after a 100-72 loss to the host Amherst Lord Jeffs at LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

The Mustangs were led by Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) and Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.) with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Clark was 6-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe, while Conner went 4-for-6, a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown, and 3-for-4 from the line and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

The Jeffs impressive shooting continued as they hit 57% (40-70) from floor to improve to 3-0 on the year, while handing the Mustangs their second loss (1-2). 

Amherst junior shooting guard Connor Green and sophomore forward David George led the team with game-highs of 17 points each. George was 7-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, while grabbing a game-high seven boards. He was named the tournament MVP for his performance throughout the weekend.

First-year swingman Johnny McCarthy added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting as well and pulled in six rebounds. Eleven different Jeffs got involved in the scoring, and sophomore guard Reid Berman dished out a game-high seven assists.

Amherst grabbed a double-digit lead with 6:16 remaining in the first half when Berman hit a pair of free throws to give the home team a 34-23 advantage. McCarthy hit a jumper with two seconds remaining as the Jeffs took a 52-33 lead at the break.

Trailing 61-37 just over two minutes into the second half, Mount Ida pulled off a 16-7 run to cut the deficit back to 15, capped by a three-point play by Clark after one of his two steals.

A Jeff Racy three-pointer gave the hosts a 20-point lead again with 10:45 to play, and it continued to grow down the stretch as the hosts hit 10 three-pointers, six of them in the second half.

Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) added nine points off the bench for Mount Ida, and freshman Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.) had two blocks and two rebounds in just three minutes in his first collegiate appearance.

The Mustangs can expect another stiff challenge on Tuesday evening, when they will travel to Lowell to face Division 1 team UMass Lowell at 7:00 pm.

The Jeffs return to action Tuesday, Dec. 2 and will host Westfield State at 7 p.m.