NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College took an 11 point lead into halftime and then held off a feisty Rivier University team for a 70-58 home win on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs led wire to wire to get their overall record back over the .500 mark at 9-8, and improve to 5-5 in the GNAC, while the Raiders dip to 2-15 (2-8 GNAC).
Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) led all scorers with 17 points, and the Mount Ida bench outscored the Rivier reserves 29-6, led by 11 points off the pine from Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.).
Rivier was led by the scoring of Victor Davila (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) and Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.), who poured in 14 points apiece and combined for five of the Raider's eight made three-pointers.
DeFillippi contributed six early points with two three-pointers, one from behind the arc and one earned at the free-throw line, and the Mustangs raced out to an 11-4 lead.
A layup by Matt Vigars (Stratham, N.H.) pulled the Raiders to within three points, but a 12-4 run gave Mount Ida their first double-digit lead of the afternoon.
Though the visitors would cut the lead to four points on a triple by Edward Soucie (Sout hRyegate, Vt.), Mount Ida scored the final seven points of the half, with a pair of free throws and a layup by DeFillippi, who then found Pat McKearney (Avon, Conn.) for a layup and a foul as the first half buzzer sounded, with McKearney sinking the foul shot en route to a nine point, seven rebound performance that also included four blocks, all of them monstrous swats that resonated through the gym.
Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) gave the Mustangs their biggest lead of the game with a three-pointer and then a layup at 16:28 of the second half as Mount Ida led 48-29, but that lead was quickly cut back to 12 points with back to back buckets by Francis, a layup and a triple on either side of a McKearney layup.
Rivier hit five of their three-pointers in the second half, and Anthony Simmons (Stamford, Conn.) and Francis cut into the Mount Ida lead even more with back to back three's as part of an 11-0 spurt by the Raiders to trim the Mustang edge to six points.
The Mustangs wouldn't allow their lead to slip lower than that, however, and they ended the final five minutes of the game by outscoring their opponents 9-3, sealing the victory with a three-point play converted by John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.) with a minute and a half remaining.
Oliver scored eight points in the victory, while Kevin Conner (Marshfield, Mass.) had four points and three rebounds to go with a huge block of his own. Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) and Oliver were in on the block party as well, while Clark dished out a game-high five assists to go with two steals and seven points.
For the Raiders, Simmons scored in double-figures with eleven points while Soucie recorded seven points, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Francis led the team in rebounding with seven caroms, but Mount Ida had the edge on the glass by a 43-35 margin thanks to seven rebounds apiece from McKearney and Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.).
Mount Ida returns to the hardwood in Mustang City on Wednesday, January 27th when they host Anna Maria at 6:00 pm.
The Raiders will try to stop a six-game slide on Wednesday night when they travel to Norwich for a 7:00 pm tip-off.