The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team used a balanced attack and strong interior play, to ward off York College by a 74-55 count at the York College Gymnasium in Jamaica, NY, as part of CUNYAC. The win was the third in a row for the Dolphins, who improved to 11-4 overall and 5-2 inside the CUNYAC, while the Cardinals fell to 4-12, 1-6, respectively.
The Dolphins were able to weather a strong York attack that included a host of offensive rebounds and second and third chance points with a strong shooting night, as the visitors scored a 50% touch from the floor next to York’s 33.9% clip. The Dolphins also made the most of the interior, scoring 42 of their 74 markers in the paint, 26 of those in a 40-point second half.
After the hosts took a modest, 4-3, edge in the opening minutes, CSI raced to a 14-2 run over the next 5:47 of the opening frame. Edin Bracic canned three-straight buckets, two from long range, as CSI grabbed its first double-digit lead with 13:13 remaining in the first stanza. York was able to whittle the lead down thanks to second chance points from Ryan Smart and Rashaan Bailey, but a pair of Khaleeq Baum inside drives kept CSI on top, keeping the Dolphins ahead. A modest, 6-0, York run narrowed CSI’s lead to just 25-22 with 3:26 to go, thanks to another Smart lay-up off of another offensive rebound, but CSI closed the frame on a 9-4 edge to take a 34-26 lead into intermission.
In the second half, CSI seemed to make a more concerted effort at pounding the ball into the interior and the results paid off. Senior Will Fonseca, held to just two points in the first half, scored the first six for the Dolphins, and then two more inside lay-ups by Baum brought CSI back up by double digits, 44-33, with 14:20 left. York would narrow the lead down to seven, but a 16-5 CSI run over the next five minutes gave the Dolphins a commanding 60-42 edge with under eight minutes to play. Fonseca and Baum added six points each in the run, all on the interior.
CSI cruised from there, ultimately settling for the 74-55 win. CSI added a 45.5% clip from beyond the arc, while York finished just 1-7 from downtown. CSI was led by Baum’s 18 points, adding seven rebounds. Fonseca net a double-double, posting 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, adding three assists. Thomas Delahanty added 12 points and five rebounds, with Bracic adding 11 and Frank Schettino 10, with a game-high seven assists. York was paced by Bailey’s 17 points, while Smart collected 10 markers and a game-high 12 rebounds. CSI out-rebounded York, 42-33, and was a plus-three in the turnover column (14/17).
The Dolphins will next face off against Medgar Evers College on Friday, January 15, in Brooklyn, NY, at 8pm.
