Javon Cox had a huge second half in the 80-68 win

The College of Staten Island men’s basketball led from coast-to-coast, doing their best to hold off a fighting St. Joseph’s College of Brooklyn squad that kept coming back in what was an 80-68 win for the Dolphins as part of non-conference play at the Sports & Recreation Center. With the win, the Dolphins improved to 9-2 overall, while the visiting Bears fell to 8-5.

The visitors took the opening lead of the game before consecutive baskets by Javon Cox by Dylan Bulger gave CSI a modest lead that it would continue to build in a strong-shooting first stanza. A pair of three’s by Bloochy Magloire and Jonathan Chadwick-Myers popped CSI out to a 16-6 start in the first of three 10-point leads in the frame, but in what would be a recurring theme of the evening, SJC kept coming back. A 12-2 run over four minutes got the visitors back even at 23-23, powered by a pair of David Louison baskets.

Later, the Dolphins surged ahead again, when a Chadwick-Myers lay-in completed a 14-3 run that put CSI up 37-26, their largest lead en route to a 39-31 score at intermission.

When a Louison transition basket cut CSI’s lead to three in the second frame, 42-39, CSI again answered a call, powering back up to an eight-point lead on a Javon Cox rebound and lay-up, part of a monster 12-point, 10-rebound, second-half effort for the sophomore. But the Bears refused to go quietly, using four-straight Michael Megafu points and a Kevin Alesi freebie to knot the score, 52-52, with 9:28 to go. The Bears tied the game again via the free-throw line, 55-55, at 9:02, but the Dolphins answered the call.

After going up by two possessions, SJC cut the lead to two on an Ervin Maddox long-range jumper, but the Staten Island native was called for a crucial technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct and CSI converted on a free-throw and on the ensuing possession, Cox converted a Magloire miss with a thundering dunk that gave CSI a 62-57 lead and momentum. After a Megafu slam the other way, CSI scored the next seven points, putting the home squad back up by double-digits, 69-59 with 2:59 to play.

CSI eventually would ice the game at the free-throw line, including a six-for-six performance by Chadwick-Myers who finished the game with a career-high 31 points to go with six rebounds.

After Chadwick-Myers, Cox chimed in with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Matt Van Manen poured in 11 points and six rebounds, while Bulger had a game-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points. For SJC, Louison and O’Neill each tallied 18 points, with Louison earning a team-best 9 rebounds. Although SJC forced 22 CSI turnovers, the Dolphins held a commanding 52-32 on the boards, including an 18-10 edge on the offensive glass.

The Dolphins will be back in action Saturday afternoon, when they put their unblemished 5-0 CUNYAC mark on the line against visiting Medgar Evers College at the Sports & Recreation Center, at 2pm.