NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida held a double-digit advantage on Saturday afternoon in the first half of their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game against Suffolk, but the Rams doubled up the Mustangs after the break and scored a 79-57 victory at Mount Ida College Athletic Center.
Suffolk junior guard Sam Nwadike (Houston, Texas) scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, when the Rams shot 50% from the field and outscored the Mustangs 47-22.
Freshman Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) paced Mount Ida with 15 points, his fifth consecutive game scoring in double figures. Dujon also had two blocks and grabbed three rebounds.
Nwadike added six assists and four steals, and hit twice from outside for a Suffolk team that attempted 27 three-pointers. His triple with 15:07 left in the second half gave the Rams their first lead of the half, and was part of a 27-4 run in the second half in which Suffolk seized control of the game by opening up a 61-43 advantage.
Freshman Frantz Pinard (Arlington, Mass.), who poured in 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and also had four thefts, scored five of the final nine points in that run for the Rams.
Mount Ida took a 17-14 first half deficit and turned it into their largest lead of the game with a 17-4 run, capped by a Nathan Bueno (Methuen, Mass.) layup with 3:48 left before the break to make it 31-21.
Bueno was the only other Mustang in double figures, scoring ten points and leading the team with three assists, while pulling down six caroms.
The Rams chipped that lead down to three points by halftime, when Jake Meister (Madison, N.J.) nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the teams to the break with the hosts ahead 35-32.
Mount Ida junior Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) lead all players with nine rebounds, helping the Green and White to a 44-40 advantage on the glass. Senior Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) grabbed seven rebounds to go with eight points.
The Rams took advantage of 24 Mount Ida turnovers, which led to 32 points, and saw their reserves score 33 points, including 11 from Meister, who was 3-for-4 from downtown, and 12 from Matt Powers (Westwood, Mass.).
Freshman center Matt Duquette (Swampscott, Mass.) led the Rams (8-10, 5-6 GNAC) with seven rebounds.
The Mustangs (4-15, 2-10 GNAC) will play the second of back-to-back home games next Wednesday at 6:00 pm with a visit from Saint Joseph's (ME).
Suffolk will return to Boston and take off until next Wednesday, when they will welcome in Johnson & Wales for another GNAC matchup.