NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Though they fought tooth and nail to the final buzzer, sixth seeded Mount Ida College couldn't overcome the four-time defending Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball champions and were defeated 109-87 by the #3 seeded Falcons in the tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at The Nest inside Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.
Four Mustangs scored in double-figures, led by a new career high 15 points from freshman Dennis Ross (Portland, Maine), but Falcons junior guard Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) scored a game-high 25 points to help Albertus Magnus (19-5) record their third straight victory and their third of the season against the Mustangs.
In his best game as a Falcon, Ellis shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to go along with five boards, one assist and one block. Albertus Magnus senior wing Marc Wilson (Jersey City, N.J.) added 19 points and nine boards in the win for the hosts.
Ross paced the Mustang attack with his 15 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting.
Albertus Magnus opened the game on a 12-6 run capped by a layup from sophomore forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) over the first three and a half minutes of action. Mount Ida would answer with a 5-0 spurt to pull within one at 12-11 after a layup from Jacob Sartain (W. Palm Beach, Fla.).
Later in the first half, the Falcons used a 16-3 run capped by a pair of free throws from freshman Med Fofana (Bronx, N.Y.) to stretch their lead to 17 at 37-20 with 5:36 left in the stanza. The teams would trade buckets over the remainder of the opening 20 minutes and a trey from Mustang sophomore guard John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.) closed out the scoring to give the hosts a 49-31 advantage at the break.
AMC pulled away in the second half, scoring 60 points and shooting 58 percent from three-point range. Over the final 20 minutes, the home team connected on 7-of-12 from deep, highlighted by Ellis hitting four. The Falcons stretched their lead to as many 34 midway through the second stanza following a layup in the post from freshman forward Shontaey Lovell (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
The Albertus reserves maintained the edge down the stretch and freshman Matt Hamilton (Hamden, Conn.) put the exclamation point on the win with a dunk off a lob pass from classmate Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.).
Three other Mustangs scored in double figures besides Ross, led by sophomore guard Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) with 13 points, along with four assists. Sophomore Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Sartain netted 10.
Sophomore Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.) led Mount Ida with nine rebounds and Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) collected a team-high six assists, to go with seven ponts.
Walters was the third Falcon in double figures with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks, while Lovell and Pittman each added nine. Pittman filled out the stat sheet, dishing out eight assists and pulling down six boards.
Mount Ida ends their season with an 11-15 record, and having made their second consecutive GNAC postseason appearance, improving a spot from last year when they earned the seventh seed and also bowed out in the quarterfinals.
The Falcons advance to Thursday's semifinals round and will travel to second-seeded Lasell College to play for a trip to Saturday's championship game.