NEW LONDON, Conn. - Johnson State men's basketball saw the Mount Ida College Mustangs roll to a 102-72 win in the opening round of the Mitchell College Tip-Off Showcase.  Mount Ida used a 16-4 run in the middle of the first half to turn a two-point lead into 14 and didn't look back to move to 1-0 while Johnson is 0-1.

Johnson was led by junior forward Bryan Hickey (Barre, Vt./Spaulding) (pictured) who had 16 points and seven rebounds.  Freshman Malik Burbage (Philadelphia, Penn./Palmer) supplied a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his collegiate debut and sophomore Asim Khan (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) chipped in with 11 points.

Mount Ida put five players in double-figures led by a trio of freshman in John Fortes (23 points), Evens St. Juste (20 points), and Cam Walker (19 points).  Aaron Kelly scored 13 points and Jeff McNair had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

A short-corner jumper by Hickey made the score 16-14 Mount Ida just 4:29 into the game.  But the Mustangs would surge ahead and take the 18-point lead of 54-36 into halftime and cruise to the win.

Mount Ida shot well all night and finished with a 54% performance from the field.  Fortes would should 9-10 and Walker 9-13.

Johnson will face host Mitchell College on Saturday at 3:00 pm while Mount Ida will play Green Mountain College at 1:00 pm.