BOSTON, Mass. – Mount Ida got a game-high 21 points from sophomore guard Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) and held off a second half comeback attempt by Suffolk University to beat the Rams 74-66 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball on Thursday night at Regan Gymnasium.
The Mustangs get an important conference win as they stop a three-game slide and get back to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the GNAC, while Suffolk drops to 3-8 (1-3 GNAC).
Clark went 7-12 from the floor and hit three triples as Mount Ida jumped out to a 39-25 lead in the first half thanks to an 18-4 run which erased an early 13-4 deficit.
The Mustangs would lead by as many as 24 points with 13:37 left in the second half, but watched as Suffolk trimmed their advantage to just six points with 22 seconds to play before the Rams ran out of clock.
Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I. posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) and John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Oliver scored a traditional three-point play with 4:08 on the clock in the first to put the Mustangs ahead by nine and spark a 10-2 run that led Mount Ida to the break with a double-digit advantage.
Suffolk was held without a field goal over the first five minutes and the Mustangs took advantage, building a 20-point cushion, starting with a pair of buckets by Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.), who scored six points.
Thanks to a set of free throws by Adam Chick, Suffolk cut the deficit fell to just seven, 62-55, with 6:05 on the clock, but Clark answered with three free throws to bring the distance back to double figures.
The Rams also got a Curtis Casella 3-pointer with 2:43 on the clock, but again the Mustangs answered with Clark converting a three-point play of his own to give Mount Ida a 70-60 edge with 1:15 remaining.
Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.) added 7 points off the bench for the Mustangs, while Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) grabbed seven rebounds. DeFillippi was just short of a double-double with nine rebounds and filled the stat sheet with three assists and three steals, while Clark also had three thefts to go with two dimes.
Matt McLean led the Rams offense with 14 points off the bench with Jake Meister adding 11. Caleb Unni, Michael Hagopian and Casella each pitched in 10 points. Chick played big on the boards as the senior guard pulled down a team- and game-high 10 boards.
Mount Ida is back home for the first time in 2016 this Saturday when they host Emmanuel at 1:00 pm in another GNAC contest.
Suffolk will return to action Saturday, Jan. 9 when it travels to Rivier for a 3 p.m. GNAC showdown.