After surrendering a large lead, the College of Staten Island men’s basketball team rallied back to take an 81-69 win over visiting FDU-Florham as part of non-conference play at the Sports & Recreation Center this evening.  The win lifted the Dolphins to 8-5 overall, while the Devils fell to 1-12.

In a highly-offensive opening few minutes, CSI and FDU went back-and-forth trading baskets, until a Frank Schettino lay-up at 14:41 started a 10-3 run that ultimately gave CSI a 19-12 lead at 13:27.  The Devils used consecutive baskets by Donte Ali and James Moran to knock CSI’s lead to two, but a Thomas Delahanty bucket and then consecutive lay-ups by Will Fonseca charged CSI forward again, and the Dolphins went on 9-0 run to take a 31-20 lead at 8:05.

The Dolphins accentuated the lead further to close the half, going on a 15-7 run in the final 5:24 to go into the locker room comfortably ahead, 51-32.

It was business as usual to start the second half, as CSI opened up the lead to 23, 59-36, on another inside drive by Fonseca.  This time, however, FDU responded with a monster run, catching fire at the three-point stripe.  Three’s by Steve Herdman and Ryan Rigby kicked off a stellar 22-2 run for the visitors that spanned over six minutes, over which time the Devils shot 8-for-10 from the floor.  The run narrowed CSI’s lead to just three, 61-58, with 11:42 to go, prompting a CSI timeout.

The break was exactly what the Dolphins needed.

A Schettino lay-up followed, and then after trading buckets, Delahanty banked in a pair of inside drives to nurse CSI’s lead to 70-62.  In a crucial stretch, FDU’s Kevin Furlong canned a three at 6:02 left to whittle CSI’s lead to 72-66, but the Dolphins responded with a 9-0 run, with seven of the points coming from Schettino to put the game out of reach, 81-66, with 3:15 to go.

Schettino led all scorers with 24 points, adding 10 assists and three steals in 38 minutes.  Delahanty continued to shine, pouring in 22 points on 10-13 from the field, adding 12 rebounds, a team-high.  Fonseca, limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble, knocked in 18 points and 11 rebounds.  The Dolphins shot 55.7% from the field, but struggled from the line, going just 11-21 from the stripe.

FDU finished with four players with double figures, led by Furlong’s 16 points.  Ali and Herdman pitched in with 14 points apiece.  FDU shot just 38.1% from the field.  The Dolphins out-rebounded the smaller FDU, 43-31.  

Up next for the Dolphins will be York College on Wednesday, at 7:30pm.  It will be part of a doubleheader, as the CSI women will host York at 5:30pm.