The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team showed what they can do on both ends of the court against rival CUNYAC team the bulldogs of Brooklyn College, with a final score of 72-58 this afternoon at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center. The victory pushed the Dolphins record to 9-4 overall and a perfect 3-0 in conference play, while the Bulldogs fell to 8-3, 2-1, respectively.

It was a seesaw battle in the opening half between the Dolphins and Bulldogs. Javon Cox gave the Dolphins their first bucket in the opening tip to go up 2-0 while on the defensive side Cox blocked the Bulldogs Kavon Baker’s layup, all in the first minute of play; two plays that would set the pace for the rest of the game. A jumper by the Dolphin’s Bloochy Magloire, a layup by Cox and a offensive rebound and put back by Dylan Bulgar at 11:32 gave the Dolphins a nine point lead, 16-7; there biggest of half.

The Bulldogs were not intimidated as they cut the lead down to five, 20-15, at the 8:37 mark off a Magloire turnover and fast break layup by Baker. Although, a three pointer by CSI’s T.J. Tibbs at 5:56 put the Dolphins back up by eight, 27-19, a foul by Jordan Young at 5:28 mark and a three point play by the Bulldogs Baker cut the Dolphins lead down to three, 27-24 at the 4:06 tick. The lead for the Dolphins seesawed from three to five in the final four minutes of the first half until a free throw by Brooklyn’s Keiran Halton cut the lead to two with a score of 33-31 heading into the locker rooms.

The Dolphins shot 44% (16-36) from the field and only allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 35% (12-34).  However, the Bulldogs connected on six of 10 free throws while the Dolphins missed all three of theirs.

The Dolphins started the second half slow as they lost the lead in the opening three minutes of play and trailed by two after a missed three by the Dolphins Dale Taranto. Tyshawn Russell scored a layup to put the Bulldogs up 37-35. The Bulldogs held the lead until a couple of free throws at the 15:23 mark by Magloire put the Dolphins back up by one, 43-42.

The lead would change hands four more times including the fifth tie (53) of the game at 8:42 with the Bulldog’s Russell scoring a layup. The Dolphins regained their composure when a three point ball off the hands of Taranto at 7:41, gave them a three point lead, 56-53. The Dolphins never looked back from there as they went on an 11-0 run in the final five minutes of play, powered by a couple of free throws from Cox, a Young layup and one more three ball from Taranto at 1:06, icing their victory.

The Dolphins won the game by 14 with a final score of 72-58. The Dolphins shot 49% from the field overall while the Bulldogs shoot only 37%. CSI won the rebounding battle 49-31. Lameik Black (in his first game) gave the Dolphins a big boost of the bench with 12 points and eight rebounds on 6-9 shooting, while his teammates Cox and Young also had 12 points each with 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively.

Amil John finished with 13 points in 6-18 shooting while his teammates Russell and Baker combine to shoot 10-30 (33%) and committed a total of eight of the Bulldogs 14 turnovers.

CSI will next play on the road against non-conference, Fairleigh Dickinson-College at Florham in Madison, NJ on Saturday January 9, 2012. Game time is set for a 8:00 PM match-up.