NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College men's basketball team has earned a trip back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament after a two year absence, and will travel to Johnson & Wales University tomorrow night for their quarterfinal matchup at 7:30 pm in Providence, R.I.
The Mustangs (7-17, 6-12 GNAC) will be the #7 seed in the tournament, while the Wildcats earned the right to host by securing the second seed with a 15-3 GNAC mark (19-5 overall).
This will be the fourth GNAC tournament appearance since the Mustangs joined the conference in 2007-08, and this year's incarnation will look to earn the program's first victory and advance to the GNAC semifinals for the first time in school history.
To do that, they will have to beat a Johnson & Wales team that has won 14 of the 18 matchups between the schools, including both meetings this season.
Here's the scoop on tomorrow night's game.
How they Got Here:
The Mustangs secured their playoff berth by winning four of their last five games, including a sweep of a three-game GNAC road trip that took them to Rivier, Suffolk, and Norwich. The middle game against the Rams ended in dramatic fashion, with the Mustangs winning 72-69 after a made halfcourt shot at the final horn by freshman Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.). In their final home game of the year, the Mustangs outmuscled Rivier at home for an 82-76 victory after honoring senior Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.), the only Mustang who has taken the floor in a postseason game.
Johnson & Wales began 2015 on a seven-game winning streak, and won 13 of their last 15 games this season to easily claim the #2 seed in the GNAC, behind only nationally ranked Albertus Magnus (18-0 GNAC), who handed the Wildcats two of their three conference losses, albeit both on buzzer beaters.
Players to Watch:
Sophomore guard Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) is the Mustang's leading scorer, averaging 12 points per game. Dujon scored 27 points on the road at Rivier and averaged 19.5 points in the Mustang's final two games of the season. Freshman point guard Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) leads the conference in steals per game (2.1) and is fourth in the GNAC in assists, dishing out 4.1 helpers per game, including a career high 11 assists in the home finale against Rivier. First year Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) leads the team in rebounding (5.6 per contest), is averaging 9.3 points per game, and is third in the conference in blocks (1.1 blocks per game).
The Wildcats are led by junior guard Quarry Greenaway (Westchester, N.Y.), who is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game. Greenaway is also pulling down 7.2 rebounds per game, good for fifth in the GNAC.
His teammate and classmate, Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.), is also dangerous, averaging 19.4 points and seven rebounds per game, while Jarell Lawson (Providence, R.I.) and Robert Lewis (Providence, R.I.) each score just over 10 points per contest.
Coverage
Tomorrow night's game can be watched live online through EZStream: http://gnac.ezstream.com/
Live Stats can also be found on Mountidamustangs.com: http://mountidamustangs.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/boxscores/20150224_pyzj.xml
2015 GNAC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, Feb. 24
Game 1: #8 Suffolk at #1 Albertus Magnus - 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Lasell at #4 Saint Joseph's (Maine) - 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Anna Maria – 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #7 Mount Ida at #2 Johnson & Wales – 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Thursday, Feb. 26
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Championship - Saturday, Feb. 28
Game 7: Game 5 vs. Game 6 winner