NEWTON, Mass. – A full house of Mount Ida College students and fans turned out on Saturday afternoon for the Mustang's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game against rivals Lasell College, and they were treated to an entertaining affair.
Trailing by just three points almost mid-way through the second half, the Mustangs were unable to close the gap any further and, despite a game effort, fell to the Lasers 74-57.
Mount Ida (4-10, 2-6 GNAC) was led by Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.), who recorded 15 points and 9 rebounds, both game-highs. The Lasers got 15 points apiece from Jeremy Daniel (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.).
Lasell, leading 50-47 with 11:30 left in the game, ripped off a 12-0 run to take their first double-digit lead of the second half, with just under six minutes remaining.
Mount Ida had already climbed back from an 11-point deficit in the first half, which they cut to as little as four before the break came with Lasell ahead 37-31.
Jean started the game with a three-pointer and Mount Ida led 7-4 early on, but layups by Daniel gave the visitors their first leads of the day, and a three-pointer by Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) put the Lasers in front, 11-10, where they would stay for the final 34:31 of play.
Senior Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) was the only other Mustang in double-figures, with 13 points, matched by the efforts of Lasell's Clyde Niba (Atlanta, Ga.), who also had seven rebounds, tied for tops on his squad with senior Sonny Mello (Fall River, Mass.), who added eight points, two assists and two steals.
The Lasers forced Mount Ida into 25 turnovers and came up with 14 steals, while Mount Ida blocked three shots and had an edge on the glass, 40-36.
Niba and Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) were each 2-for-4 from downtown for a Lasers team that hit six threes and also took 30 free-throws, hitting 20 of them.
Nathan Bueno (Methuen, Mass.) had seven points and four assists, and he got the Mustangs started in the second half with a jumper that cut the Lasell lead back to seven points. Sophomore Michael Joseph (Windsor, Conn.) added all five of his points during the run that saw Mount Ida close the gap back to three points.
Lasell's game-clinching spurt included three layups by Ortiz and a three-pointer from Walters.
Guard Tyree Singletary (Newark, N.J.) pitched in six points and two steals for Mount Ida, while Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added nine points for the Lasers. Daniel paced Lasell with four assists, four steals, and four rebounds.
The Mustangs hit the road Monday along with the woman's team for a GNAC double-header at Norwich. The men's game starts at 7:30 pm after the Mustangs' and Cadets' women's teams battle.
Lasell will continue their three-game road swing on Tuesday evening when they travel to Boston for a meeting with Suffolk.