A three-point T.J. Tibbs basket with 13 seconds remaining helped lead the College of Staten Island men’s basketball team to a come-from-behind, 68-66, win over the City College of New York in a CUNYAC game played Wednesday evening at the Nat Holman Gymnasium in Harlem, New York.  The win lifted the Dolphins to 11-4 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference play, while the struggling Beavers fell to 2-14, 0-5, respectively.
In a matchup that appeared to favor the Dolphins on paper, it was CCNY that held a lead most of the way, giving CSI all it could possible handle.  The game featured eight lead changes and four ties in the opening eight minutes before a Vincent Roberts lay-up gave CCNY a 19-18 edge at 11:23 that would carry through the rest of the first half.  Despite being down, CSI’s Tibbs was sensational, banking 14 of CSI’s first 18 markers.
Meanwhile, at 10:23, junior Jordan Young became the 27th Dolphin to eclipse 1,000 points, turning in a layup to cut the CCNY lead down to 21-20.  Young would finish with 14 points, giving him 1,013 career points.  Still, a 6-0 run by the Beavers capped by a Kenny Rubenstein layup gave CCNY its biggest lead going into the lockers, 35-27.
CCNY increased its lead to as many as 10 points on three occasions, the last at 13:49, before CSI started to turn things around.  With the score 50-40 in the Beavers’ favor, CSI scorched a 9-0 run, behind four-straight Young points and a three-point bomb by Bloochy Magliore.  A Rubenstein three-ball gave CCNY back a 62-55 lead with 6:22, but again CSI had an answer.
Another Magliore trey cut the lead to four and on the next possesion, Dale Taranto canned a three to one again put CSI down by a digit, 62-61.  After CCNY ripped off four straight consecutive layups again by Magliore and Taranto made it 66-65 with 3:05 remaining.  From there, sloppy play dictated as the teams combined for only two missed shots and seven turnovers with 25 ticks left.
CSI had possesion, and with 13 ticks remaining Tibbs created his own shot and buried his sixth three-pointer of the game to put CSI ahead for the first time since the early stages.  After a timeout by CCNY, the Beavers worked for a shot, and earned a Matt Van Manen foul with one second remaining that sent Roberts to the line to shoot a one-and-one.  Roberts was 0-for-1 from the stripe before the shot, and his first free-throw was wipe of the mark and scooped up by Young for CSI as time expired to help seal the win.
The even game showed in the stats as CSI shot 45.6% next to CCNY’s 47.2.  The Dolphins earned a 34-31 rebound advantage, while CCNY forced 17 CSI turnovers next to their own 16.  Tibbs’ 20 points led the Dolphins, behind 6-8 shooting behind the arc.  Young and david Hughes tallied 14 points with Taranto adding 10.  Rubenstein led CCNY with 20 points.  Brendan Barile added 12 in defeat.
CSI will next face CUNYAC-rival John Jay College on the road on Friday at 7pm.