NEWTON, Mass. – With a 102-79 win over visiting Rivier University on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Mount Ida Athletic Center, the Mount Ida College men's basketball team improved to 11-5 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play and in doing so, set a new program record for conference wins in a season.
The Mustangs (15-8), who went over the 100 point mark for the second time this year, move past the 2009-10 program that was 10-8 in the conference. This year's squad also matches that team for the most wins in program history since the 2000-01 campaign.
Seniors Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) and Jesse Nelson (Hopatcong, N.J.) were honored before the game and were joined on court by their families, with Dujon also presented with a basketball celebrating his 1,000th point which he scored last month.
The tandem then went out and led the team to a win, with Dujon pacing Mount Ida with 20 points and Nelson registering a career-high ten points, to go with two steals and four rebounds, as well as several charges taken.
Mount Ida put this game out of reach early, taking the lead for good on a Dujon layup nearly four minutes into the game and jumping out to a 23-5 lead before the midpoint of the first half.
Raiders shooters Joshua L'Heureux (Dracut, Mass.) and Tristian Givens (Windsor, Conn.) tried to keep their team in the game by shooting 5-10 from behind the three-point line in the first half, but Mount Ida got 13 from Dujon and 11 from Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.) and shot 52.4% from the field in the opening twenty minutes to grab a 59-29 lead at the break.
Givens would eventually lead all players with 23 points, while David Lorden (Pepperell, Mass.) went 8-10 from the floor to chip in 19 points for the Raiders.
Jordine ended with 13 points and joined Dennis Ross (Portland, Maine), Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) in double figures along with the seniors.
Clark dished out six assists and had four steals, including two straight to end the first half, which Mount Ida did on a 9-0 run.
The lead reached as much as 32 early in the second half for Mount Ida, who got seven points from Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) and eight points apiece from Kevin Vanderhorst (Lawrence, Mass.) and Harry Alexander (Washington, D.C.) off of the bench, with Alexander leading the team with seven rebounds.
Four players were in double-figures for Rivier (2-21, 1-15 GNAC), with 12 points coming from Angel Perez (Miami, Fla.) and ten points on 3-7 shooting from downtown by L'Heureux.
The Mustangs play their final regular season home game on Tuesday night, a 7:00 pm tip-off against Saint Joseph's Maine at Mount Ida Athletic Center, the second half of a double-header.
Rivier hosts Lasell at the same time on Tuesday night in Nashua.
