Men's Basketball 11/15/2013 11:26:00 PM

Mount Ida slips past Men’s Basketball in season opener

Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team had its season opener spoiled by Mount Ida College, as the Mustangs defeated the Hawks 88-87 in overtime in the opening game of the Courtyard by Marriott Tip-Off Tournament. In the other tournament game, Clark University was able to hold off Vassar College 65-62.

In the first game, Roger Williams led for most of the contest, leading by double digits throughout most of the first half. RWU took its largest lead of the game with 17:38 to play in the second half, as Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) made his way down the lane for a layup to give RWU a 49-34 advantage.

Mount Ida continued to claw its way back in the game, finally taking its first lead of the second half with only 1:14 to play on a pair of free throws by Everett Ramirez (Los Angeles, Calif.). Travis Fonseca (Bridgeport, Conn.) would go one of two at the line on the following possession to help send the game to OT.

In the extra period, the Mustangs rolled off a 12-4 run to go up by eight before the Hawks responded with nine straight points, capped off by a Joseph Henry (Medway, Mass.) three-pointer with 22 seconds left to give RWU a 87-86 lead. The Hawks had a chance to ice the game with 11 seconds to go but a pair of missed free throws led to Cam Walker (New Bedford, Mass.) driving down the pair for the game-winning layup.

Walker had an outstanding game with 41 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) added 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Ramirez finished with 15 points and eight boards.

Palumbo led the Hawks with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Trevor Fahmy (Bedford, N.H.) added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Bardwell came off the bench with 14 points and five rebounds in his Hawk debut.

In the nightcap, Clark led early on in the game before Vassar gained the lead on a tip-in by Alex Snyder (Rutland, Vt.) at the 4:50 mark in the first half. The Brewers maintained the lead into halftime and for the early part of the second half.

Nichols DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) gave Clark the lead back with a layup with 13:51 to play (42-41). Both teams traded the lead one more time before the Cougars went up for good at the 4:40 mark on a three-point play by DaPrato.

DaPrato led Clark with 19 points with four rebounds. Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.) finished with14 points and five boards off the bench. Tyler Huffman (Hartford, Conn.) added 16 points.

Johnny Mrilik (San Francisco, Calif.) finished with 13 points and six rebounds for Vassar, while Synder, Erikson Wasyl (Durham, Conn), and Luka Ladan (Belmont, Mass.) each scored 12 points.

Clark and Mount Ida will face off in the championship game at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, while Roger Williams and Vassar play in the consolation game.

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