CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Winless Lesley University handed Mount Ida College an 83-75 non-conference men's basketball defeat on Thursday evening at Nicholas Athletics Center.
Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) and Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) combined to hit six three-pointers and both scored in double-figures, but the Mustangs dropped to 5-4 on the season and will try to end the year on a high note on Saturday when they host Wheelock at 1:00 pm in their final game before the holiday break.
Freshman Xeo Golding (Windermere, Fla.) led the Lynx with a game-high 24 points on 7-15 shooting, including hitting 7-10 from behind the three-point line, as Lesley knocked down a season-hgih 11 three-pointers.
Mount Ida got 11 points from Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) off the bench, while Kevin Conner (Marshfield, Mass.) had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) added seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
The only player in double-digits in rebounding was Lesley junior Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.), who had 14 boards to go with eight points, five assists and two steals. Junior Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) had six assists, three steals, and six rebounds along with 13 points, nine of them from the free-throw line.
Midway through the first half the Lynx held a slim 19-15 edge before a Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) triple from the corner sparked a 16-8 run over the next 3:45 capped by a Golding trey to give the lynx their biggest lead of the half at 35-23 with 6:37 to go before the break.
Mount Ida answered with an 8-0 streak to trim the lead back to four points, 35-31. Toney ended the Lynx drought with a layup off a feed from Charlie Reznikoff (Wilton, Conn.) and Lesley took a 41-36 lead into the locker room.
Golding and the Lynx came out hot after the break and opened the second stanza with a 13-5 run. The freshman forward powered the Lesley offense out of the gate with ten points during the run, three of which came from three-pointers.
Two more triples and a Cuffee put-back extended the Lynx lead to their biggest of the game, 62-47, with 12:24 to play.
The Mustangs would not go quietly, however, and continued the game of runs with a 10-0 spurt to pull back within five. Clark was the primary culprit of the run as he sparked it with an old-fashioned three-point play before ending it with a one of his three triples on the night.
Mount Ida would continue to chip away and took their first lead, 66-65, since the 13:57 mark of the first half following a pair of McKearney made free throws with 6:18 to go.
Cuffee provided the Lynx with five unanswered points to retake the lead, and the hosts would not trail again. The Mustangs pulled to within three once again on a McKearney layup with just over four minutes to play, but a Golding free throw and a big three from Reznikoff pushed the advantage back to seven as the Lynx hung on for the 83-75 win.
Each side hit on 40-percent of their shots from the floor and were nearly deadlocked in rebounds, with Mount Ida holding a slim 44-43 edge on the glass.
Lesley's key advantage came at the free throw line where they hit on 26-of-40 attempts. Their 26 makes were three shy of a program record while their 40 attempts set a new single-game mark.
Lesley (1-9) will try to keep the momentum going on Saturday when they travel to Wentworth at 1:00 pm in their 2015 finale.