BOSTON, Ma. – Freshman Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) hit a buzzer beater to lift the Mount Ida College Mustangs to a 72-69 victory over the Suffolk University Men's Basketball team in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Saturday afternoon.
It was a wild finish to the game as Mount Ida was able to rush the ball up the entire floor for the game winning shot with just three seconds left on the clock in regulation.
Suffolk sophomore Matt Duquette (Swampscott, Mass.) evened the game at 69-69 with three seconds remaining in regulation as he was found underneath the basket by junior Adam Chick (Northbrook, Ill.), after Mount Ida freshman Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) had put the Mustangs ahead by two points with a three-pointer from the corner at the 18 second mark.
Mount Ida took a time-out after Duquette's basket, and on the ensuing inbound pass DeFillippi rushed the ball up the court on the right side, avoided being knocked out of bounds and threw up a shot from the end of the scorer's table that banked in off the glass to give the Mustangs the victory.
DeFillippi was one of four Mustangs' players to finish the afternoon with double digit scoring totals as he finished with 12 points.
Cunningham led all players scoring 21 points with an 8-for-12 shooting effort from the field. Cunningham had an impressive afternoon with a 5-for-6 performance from three-point land.
Freshman Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) recorded a double-double for the Mustangs, as he scored 15 points to go along with 11 points. Freshman Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) added 10 points in the win.
Duquette finished recording a double-double for Suffolk as he finished with a team-high 17 points and led all players collecting 13 rebounds in the contest.
Junior Jake Meister (Madison, N.J.) scored 15 points in the setback, while junior Branden Barboza (Riverside, R.I.) added 12 points. Junior Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points, while also putting together a strong defensive performance with five steals in the game.
The Mustangs overcame a 9-5 deficit to take a 15-13 lead on a triple by Cunningham. After several back and forth minutes, the Mustangs ended the first half on an 11-3 run to seize a six point halftime lead. They led the entire second half, by as much as eight points, until the 1:40 mark, when Unni made a pair of free throws. The Mustangs turned the ball over on their next possession, but forced a stop on the defensive end to set up Cunningham's lead-taking shot.
The win improves Mount Ida to a 6-16 overall record and 4-11 mark in GNAC play. They'll be back in action on Tuesday evening as they travel to Norwich University for a 7:00pm tip-off with the Cadets.
The setback drops Suffolk to an 8-14 overall record and 5-10 mark in conference play. They'll begin the final week of the 2014-15 regular season hosting Anna Maria College on Tuesday and Lasell College on Thursday before rounding things out on the road Saturday at Emmanuel College.