NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College men's basketball team put forth a tremendous effort and did not trail for more than three-quarters of the game on Tuesday night, but Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) leaders Albertus Magnus College came from behind and dealt Mount Ida an 86-80 defeat at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The loss sends Mount Ida to 14-8 overall and 10-5 in the GNAC, while the Falcons improve to 17-4 and continue to top the conference at 13-2.
Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) and Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) put on impressive scoring displays. DeFillippi led the Mustangs with 24 points on 7-13 shooting from behind the three-point line, while Walters, the junior forward for Albertus, topped all players with 25 points on an 11-17 shooting performance from the floor.
Walters added 23 rebounds and three blocks for a monster double-double as Albertus outrebounded the Mustangs 55-39.
The Mustangs jumped in front 15-6 and held the lead for the entire first half, though by the break the Falcons had trimmed it to just a 38-31 advantage. Mount Ida matched their largest lead of nine points early in the second half, but Albertus finally pulled level at 50-50 thanks to two straight buckets by freshman Liam Perryman (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), who had eight points and eight rebounds, the only Falcons starter not in double figures.
The game was tied again at 61 apiece, and Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) hit a three-point jumper at the 8:13 mark to put Albertus in front. After Dennis Ross (Portland, Maine) hit a jumper to re-tie the game, Ellis answered with a layup that put the visitors ahead to stay.
With both teams in the bonus early in the second half, the next eight points were decided by free throws.
Walters extended the lead to seven points with two straight jumpers, and Mount Ida ran out of time to regain the lead.
Ross scored eight points for the Mustangs, as did Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.). Junior forward Kevin Conner (Marshfield, Mass.) led the team with seven rebounds to go with 13 points, while junior guard Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) added 11 points and a team-high five assists and three steals.
Harry Alexander (Washington, D.C.) added seven points and two assists off the bench.
Ellis had 14 points in the win, joined in double-figures by fellow starters Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.). Pittman scored 11 points and had four assists and five rebounds, and Coleman went 3-9 from downtown and accounted for 13 points.
Both teams were 18-28 from the free throw line, but the Falcons outshot Mount Ida from the floor 50.8% to 32.9%.
The Falcons head home to host Anna Maria this Saturday at 1:00 PM and these two teams will meet again in the regular season finale on Saturday the 18th in New Haven.
Mount Ida continues a three-game home-stand this Saturday when they host Rivier at 1:00 pm, a game in which they will honor their two seniors, Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) and Jesse Nelson (Hopatcong, N.J.).