MUSTANGS EDGE SAINTS, 74-68

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Basketball Team suffered a hard-fought setback at the hands of Mount Ida College, falling 74-68, on Tuesday night in the Jean Yawkey Center.  The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss dropped the host Saints to 1-7 on the season and 0-3 in conference games.  Mount Ida improved to 3-6 overall and 1-2 against GNAC opponents.

These two teams split last season, with both programs picking up a win on their home courts.  Again the game proved to be a hotly contested back-and-forth battle, featuring 8 lead changes and 8 ties.

The Saints jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead after a lay-up by Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) and six early points from Brandon Jones (Windsor, Conn.).  Just under five minutes into the game, Emmanuel built a double-figure lead at 15-4, after a pair of free throws from John Clay (Westport, Mass.) and a three-ball from Jones.

Rookie guard Jahari Wright (Austin, Texas) drained a three and Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) scored down low for Mount Ida to cut the Mustang deficit to 16-12.  A rebound and the bucket in the paint by Jean made it a 22-19 game.  Free throws by Jean would then give the Mustangs their first lead of the night at 23-22 with 5:50 to go in the half.

A lay-up on the break, followed by a put-back dunk from Philkwan Tate (Bloomfield, Conn.) swung the lead back to Emmanuel and forced a Mount Ida timeout with the Mustangs trailing, 26-23 and 4:14 on the clock.

Mount Ida junior guard Everett Ramirez (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit from long-range to put the Mustangs up, 28-26, before Tate tied the game up in the post at the two-minute mark.  The two teams exchanged a free throw and a hoop at each end, before Ramirez drained another jumper from the right wing to give the Mustangs a 34-31 lead at halftime.

Ramirez led all scorers at the break with his ten first-half points.  Jean added 9 points and 4 first-half boards for the Mustangs.  Twenty-five of Mount Ida's 34 points were scored off the bench in the opening frame.

Emmanuel was paced by 9 points from Jones and 8 from Tate in the first twenty minutes.

Out of the break, Clay knocked down a pair from the line to quickly bring Emmanuel back to within one point at 36-35 and Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored on the break to give the Saints the lead back, 37-36.

But the momentum would then swing toward the visitors, as Mount Ida went on a 14-0 run over a four-minute span to surge out in front, 50-37.  Everett scored five points and Cam Walker  (New Bedford, Mass.) netted four during the run, before Wright capped it with his third three of the game, dialing in at the 13:14 mark.

Trailing by ten, 53-43 with eleven minutes to go, the Saints would then mount an 8-2 run of their own.  Tate threw one down on the break to cap the run and bring EC back to within four at 55-51 with 9:19 on the clock.

An ensuing 6-0 Mustang run built another double-figure lead, 61-51, after a jumper by Ramirez at 7:59.  The Saints were able to cut it to three, when Smith stuck a mid-range jumper from the left wing to bring the spread to 63-60 with just under five minutes to go.

Wright dropped his fourth three-ball of the night for a 68-64 Mustang advantage, before Clay layed one in at the opposite end to bring the spread to 68-66 with 2:39 remaining.  It was a full minute of scoreless action, before Mount Ida called for a full timeout.

Out of the timeout, Clay stole the ball and found James Sullivan (Wethersfield, Conn.) free on the break.  The rookie layed it in to bring the contest to its eighth tie of the night, at 68-all and 1:25 to play.

Walker hauled in an offensive board and scored in the paint at the other end to give the visitors a slight 70-68 edge and force a timeout by the Saints with 42 seconds to go.  EC couldn't connect out of the timeout and the Mustangs went 4-4 from the line down the stretch to pull out the 74-68 win.

Tate finished with the only double-double of the night, scoring 14 points off of 7 for 9 shooting, to go along with his team-high 11 rebounds.  Smith chipped in with 11 points and 3 assists.   Jones scored 9 points, going 3-4 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, while Clay and Sullivan added 8 points apiece for EC.

The Mustangs posted a balanced scoring attack, with Walker's 21 points and 7 boards leading the way.  Ramirez finished with 19 points, while Wright and Jean combined with 23 points in the win for Mount Ida.

Both teams are now off for the remainder of the semester.  Emmanuel will return to the court after the winter break, when the Saints take on Fisher College on January 5th.  This game will be played at the Fectau-Leary School in Lynn, Mass. at 3:00 PM.  Mount Ida plays again on January 7th, when the Mustangs host River University in a 7:30 PM start.