JONES DROPS 37 TO LEAD MOUNT IDA PAST SAINTS
Jan. 28, 2010
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Basketball dropped a 94-69 decision to Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action played in the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night. The game featured 9 lead changes and 9 ties, before the Mustangs went ahead for good in the second half. Sophomore guard Keith Jones (Boston, Mass.) led all scorers with 37 points to pace the visitors. Emmanuel fell to 3-1 on the season and 2-8 in the league with the loss, while Mount Ida improved to 12-5 overall and 7-3 in GNAC play.
The Saints jumped out to the first lead of the game on a lay-up by Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.) to go up 2-0. A jumper by Mount Ida's Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and a matching one from Emmanuel's Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) tied the contest at 6-6 with 14 minutes on the clock. A put-back by Everson gave the Saints their second lead of the game, before Darren Martinez (Dorchester, Mass.) tied it up again at 8-all. Another Martinez hoop forced an EC timeout at 10-8 with 12:25 left in the half.
The Emmanuel shooters hit a dry spell and the Saints found themselves stuck at eight points for three minutes of action, while Mount Ida went on a 5-0 run to go up 13-8. Carter-Hill hit a shot in the paint to end the drought for Emmanuel with just under nine minutes left in the half and the Saints trailed 13-10.
A hoop by Armani Gill (Boston, Mass.) gave Emmanuel the lead at 18-17 and an and-one by Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) pushed the Saints' lead to 21-17, before a Jones drained a three to cut the spread to 21-20 with five minutes to play. Another trey by Jones gave the Mustangs a 23-22 lead with 4:45 to go.
A bucket and the foul by Everson knotted the contest at 25-all with 2:40 remaining in the half. A steal and a hoop by Gill put EC up 27-25 and forced a Mustang timeout. Out of the time-out, two free throws by Jones brought the game to its 7th tie at 27-all with two minutes left in the half. A put-back by Eric Spanbauer (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) gave the Saints a 29-27 cushion, before Jones tied it up again with two more freebies.
Despite committing 10 turnovers in the first half, compared to just 6 by the hosts, Mount Ida was able to take a 34-30 lead into halftime. Jones led all scorers at the half, hitting all three of his attempts from behind the arc. Everson led the Saints with 7 points, while Duke chipped in with 6 in the first half.
The Mustangs opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play by Joe Cabral (Walpole, Mass.) to go up 37-30. Consecutive hoops by Andre Fuller (Troy, N.Y.) and Gill cut the Mount Ida lead to four, 37-34. An Emmanuel tri-fecta by Gill was matched with a triple from Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, Conn.) and the Mustangs led, 47-40, with 15 minutes left in the game.
Mount Ida was able to maintain a solid double-digit lead for the remainder of the half and went up by as many as 29 points late in the game. The visitors, who scored an incredible 60 points in the second half, came away with a 94-69 win.
The Mustangs shot well from the free throw line and knocked down huge shots in the second half. Mount Ida was 30 for 42 from the line, including a perfect 14 for 14 free throw shooting display by Keith Jones. Jones took over for the Mustangs in the second half, scoring 22 points in 17 minutes of action. He drained 5 of 6 from long range en route to his 37 points on the night.
Jones led a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Mustangs. Martinez had a near triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds, while Cabral notched 11 points and 9 rebounds. Hillery chipped in with 10 points in the win.
Duke led Emmanuel with 12 points. Everson dropped 11 points to go along with his 9 rebounds, while Fuller finished with 11 points and 5 boards.
The Saints will return to action on Saturday, when Emmanuel hosts the Lasers of Lasell College in a 1pm start.