The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team used a dominating performance from start to finish grabbing their ninth straight win on Friday evening, turning back Hunter College, 83-66, at the ARC Arena in Manhattan. The Dolphins improved to 16-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference play, while the home Hawks dropped to 9-10, 4-3, respectively.
CSI never trailed in the game, opening up a 7-0 lead thanks to baskets by Bloochy Magloire and Javon Cox. Both sides were not from the floor in the opening stanza, however, combining to shoot 28-53 from the ground (52%), as CSI nursed a 20-18 lead not even nine minutes into the game.
The Hawks rallied to tie the game on a pair of first half occasions, but each time CSI had an answer. Finally, when HC’s Panagio Koutsoloukas knotted the game at 28-28, CSI got the run it was looking for, closing the stanza on a 13-3 run over the final 5:30, aided by a Jordan Young jumper and big three-balls by Magloire and T.J. Tibbs. At the half, CSI was up 41-30.
The momentum for the Dolphins carried into the second half, as the Dolphins ripped off a 22-10 run over the first six minutes of the frame to take a commanding, 63-40, lead. Cox had three buckets in the run, completing three-point plays on two of them to help CSI wrestle away the game.
From there, CSI led by as many as 25, before Hunter raced back to within 16 on a pair of occasions before eventually falling, 83-66.
CSI shot a blistering 55.8%, paced by Young’s 23 points. Cox finished 6-of-7 from the floor for 17 points, also leading the squad in assists with five. Magloire, a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line finished with 21 markers. Hunter was led by Anthony Uter’s 21 points, while Mark Courtien finished with 15.
The Dolphins are now idle until Thursday, February 2, when they host Berkeley College (NJ) for a 7:30pm contest. It will also be Senior Night for the Dolphins, as it marks the final home regular season contest for CSI.
