The College of Staten Island men’s basketball squad kept its winning streak intact, travelling to defeat Stevens Institute of Technology this afternoon in non-conference action, 65-59, at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, New Jersey.  With the win, CSI extended to 4-2 overall, winning its fourth-straight after back-to-back overtime losses to start the season, while the Ducks fell to 5-2. 

In a game that featured six ties and four lead changes, CSI fired off a quick, 9-3, lead after the game’s first 3:10 aided by a pair of Bloochy Magloire baskets and a three-ball by Dale Taranto.  Despite Stevens cutting the deficit to one, CSI went up by as many as seven points in the stanza, when Magloire’s running lay-up at 8:08 gave CSI a 19-12 edge.  The lead was short-lived though, as the Ducks raced off a 15-3 run, steadied by Russ Thompson’s pair of buckets, one of them a three-pointer to cut the lead again to one.  To stop the bleeding, CSI senior Jordan Young was able to convert a put-back layup on a T.J. Tibbs missed jumper at the first half buzzer, to cut Stevens lead to 27-24 at halftime.

CSI started the second frame by turning the ball over on three consecutive occasions, and the Ducks used a pair of free-throws and a lay-up by Simon Smith to bulk up the lead, 31-24, with 17:13 to go.  The Dolphins needed a wake-up call, and got via a pair of inside baskets and then six consecutive points by junior Dylan Bulger, who ended CSI’s 12-2 run to grab the Dolphins a 36-33 edge with 12:04 left.

After a Sheldon Jones three-point play to tie the game, CSI again struck with a 10-2 run, this time punctuated by back-to-back three-pointers from Louis Valdes and Tibbs.  From there, Stevens battled to cut the deficit to one on three separate occasions, but CSI had an answer each time, the first two on a pair of Magloire baskets and the last on a Matt Van Manen put-back with 1:14 to go to give CSI a 59-56 edge.  From there, Mike Cutri missed a try for the Ducks and on the other end; Tibbs drained a three while being fouled by White with just 32 ticks left.  Tibbs nailed the point-after, and then added another two freebies to wrap up the game.

Magloire and Young led the way for the Dolphins with 14 points each.  Bulger powered to 13 points and 11 rebounds off of the bench before fouling out after having played 17 minutes.  CSI’s bench out-scored Stevens’ 19-7.  The Ducks were led by Thompson’s 20 markers while Smith pitched in with 14 points and 11 boards.  Stevens shot just 32.2% from the floor, while the Dolphins also enjoyed a 50-33 edge in rebounds.

CSI will be back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7pm.