Mustangs Take 93-72 Win in Second Men's Basketball Meeting of the Season

NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College shot nearly 50 percent from the field, made 11 three pointers and hit 24 free throws to overtake Anna Maria College 93-72 on Wednesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at Mount Ida Athletic Center.

The win was the first for Mount Ida against the AMCATS since 2012, stopping a seven game Anna Maria winning streak between the squads and leaving both teams with identical 10-8 records and 6-5 marks in the conference.

AMCAT LEADERS

Anna Maria senior Patrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) led all players with 22 points and eight assists. David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.) scored nine points on 3-4 from downtown, while Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) joined Bradanese in double-figures with 12 points, ten of them in the second half.

MOUNT IDA LEADERS 

Guards Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) and Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) and forward Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.) combined to shot 17-31 (54%) from the floor, with DeFillippi leading the way with 19 points, including 6-10 from three-point range.

Conner hit two of his three triple attempts to add 17 points and dished out four assists, while Clark scored 18 points, was perfect from the free-throw line on 8 attempts, and led the Mustangs with five assists and two steals.

Sophomore Pat McKearney (Avon, Conn.) added nine points and four rebounds for the Mustangs, John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.) scored 7 points and Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points, two assists and a steal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mount Ida led for the final 31 minutes of play, taking a 20-19 advantage on a three-pointer by Conner after back to back triples by Louis a layup by Pedro Trindade (Billerica, Mass.) gave the visitors a 19-17 lead.

A 12-4 run by Mount Ida helped them open up a ten-point lead at the half, a 40-30 advantage, and then came out of the break emphatically with a dunk by Conner to set the tone for the second half.

Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half as Mount Ida shot 53.6% and 5-10 from downtown in the final twenty minutes. Their lead ballooned to as much as 30 points, and it looked like they might reach the 100 mark, ahead 91-61 with six minutes to play, but Anna Maria ended the game on an 11-2 run. Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.) scoring five points in eight minutes on that run.

WHAT'S NEXT

Mount Ida hits the road this weekend for the first of a home and home with Norwich University. The Mustangs and Cadets tip off in Northfield, Vt. at 3:00 pm on Saturday.