BOSTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida men's basketball team outscored Emmanuel College by 18 points in the second half en route to a 79-66 road victory over the Saints in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Mustangs improve to 8-6 (4-3 GNAC) and Saints fall to 2-11 (2-5 GNAC) on the year. Mount Ida took control of the contest with a 25-4 run to start the half, opening up a 57-41 lead with 13:20 remaining. Overall, the Mustangs outscored the Saints 47-29 in the closing half, thanks largely to sophomore John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.), who scored 10 of his 13 points in the frame.
Mount Ida had four players score in double figures, including sophomore guard Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) who tallied 17 points with three three-pointers. Junior guard Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) scored 15 points and notched seven rebounds. Sophomore Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) totaled 14 as well.
Emmanuel started strong, grabbing separate leads of seven and eight points in the first half and took a 37-32 lead into the break. As a team, the Saints shot 43.8 percent in the frame, including 7-14 from behind the arc. On the other side of the court, the Mustangs were 36.1 percent from the floor and hit only four threes in the first twenty minutes.
Emmanuel junior Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) led all scorers in the half, netting 12 points, including a buzzer-beater three heading into the locker room. Senior captain John Clay (Westport, Mass.) nearly tallied a double-double in the half, tallying seven points and pulling down eight rebounds in 14 minutes.
Turnovers had a major impact on the game, as the Saints gave the ball away 20 times, compared to 16 giveaways by the Mustangs, who took full advantage as they scored 30 points off of EC turnovers. Clay finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort, earning his third double-double of the season. Smith only scored three points in the second half, ending up with 16 for the game. A bright spot for the Saints was a perfect 10-10 shooting night from the charity stripe.
Mount Ida's shooting was the biggest turnaround in the game, as they fired at a 55.6 percent clip in the second half, while EC struggled mightily from the floor in the second half, shooting just 30.3 percent.
Mount Ida will head to New Haven, Conn. next for a 3:00 tip against Albertus Magnus on Saturday, January 16th. The Saints will attempt to right the ship in a GNAC road matchup at 1:00 PM on the same day.