BOSTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College men's basketball team did not trail through the first 25 minutes and took an 11 point lead in the second half against Emmanuel College before the Saints pulled back into the game with a 13-2 run and handed the Mustangs a heartbreaking 70-64 loss in what became an entertaining back and forth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on Wednesday evening in the Jean Yawkey Center.
Emmanuel improves to 7-11 overall and 5-7 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with the win, while the loss drops the Mustangs to 4-14 and 2-9 GNAC. The battle featured six ties and seven lead changes over the final fifteen minutes of action.
Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) led the Mustangs with a game-high 18 points, while Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) scored 10 points and hauled in six boards and Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with nine points in the effort for Mount Ida. The Mustangs shot 90.5% (19-21) from the line as a team on the night, hitting their first 18 attempts from the charity stripe and setting a new program record for free throw percentage in a game.
Mount Ida opened up an early 14-7 lead, but back to back hoops from junior big men Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) and John Clay (Westport, Mass.) cut EC's deficit to three at 14-11 with 12:34 remaining in the half. The score held for nearly four minutes, but sophomore guard Tyler Russ (Stratham, N.H.) ended the drought with a lay-up for the Saints at 8:53.
Mount Ida went five minutes without a score, before rookie guard Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas), stole the ball in the backcourt and sank a fastbreak bucket to set the score at 16-13 with 7:49 to go in the half. Emmanuel sophomore Aidan Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) then completed a traditional three-point play to knot the contest at 16-all.
Long-range bombs from Mount Ida's Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) and Clark would sandwich a trey at the opposite end by Clay to set the score at 26-20 at the five-minute mark. A monster dunk from freshman forward Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) put the Mustangs up 28-22.
McKearney's slam was part of a 7-2 run by the visitors that was capped with an and-one from Dujon nearing the two-minute mark and the Mustangs led 33-24. An EC free throw and a lay-up from Davis would send the Saints into the locker room at halftime down six points, 33-27.
A turnover-filled first half featured the Mustangs committing 15 turnovers and the Saints with 13 errors in the opening twenty minutes. EC out-rebounded Ida, 21-19, in the first frame. Dujon and Macklin led all scorers at the break with seven points apiece for Mount Ida.
Coming out of the break, DeFillippi stuck a three from the left wing to give the Mustangs their first double-figure lead of the night, up 38-27. The Saints then put together a 7-0 run, capped with a three from Russ, to bring EC back to within four at 38-34. Russ continued to spark the hosts, connecting on an and-one and a three-ball on consecutive possessions to give Emmanuel its first lead of the night at 41-40 with 15:36 on the clock.
The advantage quickly swung back to Mount Ida, but Jordan DeMario (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) drained one from behind the arc to tie it and Hadley sunk a jumper to put EC up 50-48, forcing a timeout by the Mustangs at 10:56. Dujon would score quickly out of the timeout to forge the game's fourth tie.
Consecutive hoops down low from Davis would put Emmanuel up four, but DeFillippi then notched his second trifecta of the night to set the score at 54-53. DeFillippi would capitalize on a steal in the backcourt to give the Mustangs a 57-56 edge nearing the eight-minute mark.
Hadley forged a tie again at 60-all. Following an Emmanuel timeout, Dujon and Clay traded triples and the score remained level, 63-63, for the game's sixth and final tie of the night.
A Davis lay-up put EC up 65-64 and Russ extended the Emmanuel lead to 67-64 with a pair of free throws at 1:28. The Saints' full court pressure forced an Ida turnover and Clay converted a layup as Emmanuel surged out in front, 69-64 with less than a minute left.
One final free throw by Russ would seal the win for the Saints. Mount Ida couldn't connect on any of their three-point tries down the stretch and the Mustangs did not score for the final 4:35 of the contest, as Emmanuel pulled out the 70-64 come-from-behind win.
Cunningham finished the game with eight points and four rebounds, and Clark scored seven points while dishing out three assists and collecting a steal and two blocks. McKearney led the Mustangs with 9 rebounds and piled up four steals, an assist and a block.
A balanced attack by the Saints featured four players scoring in double-figures, led by Clay with 16 points and seven steals. The junior captain shot 6-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 2-2 from behind the arc. Russ finished with 15 points, after his huge 13-point second half. Davis added 15 points, six boards and three assists, while Hadley finished just shy of a double-double with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Both teams return to GNAC action this Saturday, February 7th. The Mustangs will prepare for a 1:00 pm home showdown with cross-town rival Lasell.
The Saints will host Johnson & Wales University in a 1:00 PM tip as well.