The College of Staten Island men’s basketball squad did a little more than avenge their CUNYAC Championship loss from a year ago to Medgar Evers College, blowing away the visiting Cougars by a 93-66 count at the Sports & Recreation Center this evening as part of CUNYAC play. The win lifted CSI to 8-4 this season and a perfect 2-0 mark in conference play, while the Cougars fell to 8-6, 0-2, respectively.
CSI was red-hot in the opening frame, connecting on 20-of-34 shots (58.8%) which included an 8-12 clip from downtown, helping them open up a 27-point halftime lead. The stanza began with a quick 13-6 advantage, opened by a Bloochy Magloire three-ball and followed by a another Magloire jumper and a pair of Jordan Young transition baskets. After the Cougars knocked the CSI lead back to five points, the Dolphins exploded for a 21-6 run over 5:05 to take a commanding 36-16 lead at 7:06. The run included a string of three-pointers by Louis Valdez, Dale Taranto, and T.J. Tibbs.
Looking for any sort of lift, MEC got a late bucket to end the frame on a Jovan Deare running layup, but CSI promptly took that momentum away, when Tibbs raced to half court and nailed a buzzer beating three pointer from the stripe, giving CSI its biggest lead at the time heading into the lockers, 50-23.
CSI used a 20-10 run over the first six minutes of the second frame to blow the game open at 70-33, and by then, CSI was looking to expand the play of its bench as players like Dylan Bulger, Kevin King and Herschel Jenkins saw ample time, along with Javon Cox, who made his first home start in place of the injured Matt Van Manen.
The Dolphins led by as many as 37 points, before Medgar Evers reduced the lead to the eventual final score of 93-66. The Dolphins shot 53.2% for the game and held a 41-36 edge on the boards. The team was led by Magloire’s 25 points while Tibbs added 19 points and a team-high 9 assists. Cox was also up to the task of starting, chiming in with 15 points and a team high 10 rebounds. Jovan Deare led all scorers for the Cougars with 19 points, while Winston Douglas registered 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
CSI will next play at home against Brooklyn College in another CUNYAC clash on Saturday. Game time is set for 3:30pm and is preceded by the women’s game at 1pm.
