NEWTON, Mass. – Behind monster offensive performances from Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) and Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) and a 51.7% shooting performance from behind the three-point line, Mount Ida College beat Norwich 83-73 on Saturday afternoon in their first home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest of the 2016-17 season.
Dujon poured in a game-high 27 points on 4-6 shooting from behind the three-oint arc, while DeFillippi went 6-9 from downtown en route to a 25-point outburst as the Mustangs (5-4, 2-1 GNAC) won their second straight game at home and are now winners of five of their last six.
The teams both shot well from the field, with Norwich connecting on 48.1% of their attempts and the Mustangs firing at a 46.4% clip, but Norwich went just 9-23 (39.1%) from the three-point line, while the Mustangs were 15-29.
Mount Ida hit five three-pointers in the first five minutes of play and opened up a 17-6 lead, never trailing in the contest. Dujon had 19 of his points in the first half and he and DeFillippi combined to shoot 7-9 from distance in the opening twenty minutes, after which Mount Ida led 45-26.
Senior Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.) was 2-2 from long range and he and DeFillippi ended the first half with three-pointers that gave Mount Ida their largest lead of the first half, a 19 point advantage at the break.
Conner's second triple of the game extended the lead to 24 with 12:09 to play, but Norwich tried to scrape back into the contest with an 18-6 lead to cut the deficit to just 12. The Cadets wouldn't be able to trim it to any less than eight points, and by that point, only thirty four seconds remained.
Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) had 17 points to lead the Cadets, who had four players in double-figures. Ryan Fitzgerald (Winchester, Mass.) added 13 points and two assists, while Darius Bryant (Calhoun Falls, S.C.) and Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands) had eleven points and five rebounds apiece, and Bryant had a game-high four steals.
Junior guard Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) dished out nine assists for Mount Ida and was also in double digits with 11 points. He and Brendan Cunningham, along with Conner, who finished with eight points, all co-led the Mustangs with four rebounds, as both teams saw low rebounding numbers due to their high shooting percentage.
Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) dished out a game-high five assists for Norwich, who fall to 3-5 and 1-2 in the GNAC.
Mount Ida has one final game before the break, a non-conference home affair against Wentworth on Monday night at 7:00 PM.
Norwich also plays their final game of 2016 at home when they welcome in MCLA on Tuesday at 5:30 PM.