Junior Robert Lewis (Baltimore, Md.) tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while fellow junior Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.) added a game-high 18 points to lead the Johnson & Wales University men's basketball team to a 66-51 victory against Mount Ida in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Wildcat Center on Tuesday evening.
Lewis had a solid all-around performance for JWU with the 17 points, 10 boards, a team-high four assists and three steals in the victory. Freshman Jarell Lawson (Providence, R.I.) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Wildcats with 11 points and a pair of rebounds in the win.
Freshman Patrick McKearney (Avon, Conn.) led the way for Mount Ida, narrowly missing a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds while freshman Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) added six points and seven rebounds in the loss for the Mustangs.
Mount Ida raced out to the early 14-7 advantage after a layup by McKearney with 15:44 left in the first half. Johnson & Wales then used a 15-8 run, capped by a dunk from Garrick to tie the game at 22-22. The two teams traded leads with four ties and four lead changes throughout the stanza as JWU took the 33-31 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Mount Ida connected on 59.1% of their shots from the field in the first half and had a 19-13 advantage in rebounds for the stanza. Johnson & Wales forced the visiting Mustangs into 12 turnovers for the first half.
Johnson & Wales went on a 14-6 run to start the second half and took their first double-digit lead of the contest when a layup by Lawson made the score 47-37. The Wildcats never looked back and led by as many as 15 points several times down the stretch before posting the 66-51 victory. JWU connected on 45.3% (24-53) from the field for the game and held Mount Ida to just 28.0% (7-for-25) in the second half en route to the win. The Wildcats also had the 37-33 advantage on the glass and forced the Mustangs into 20 turnovers.
With the victory Johnson & Wales improve to 4-1 for the season and 1-0 in the GNAC while Mount Ida falls to 1-4 on the year and 0-1 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday, December 4th when they travel to Albertus Magnus for a GNAC contest starting at 7:00 p.m.