After a five game win streak the College of Staten Island men’s basketball team will now be looking to shake a two-game losing skid when they take the floor at FDU-Florham tonight for a non-conference tilt with their rivals from Madison, NJ. The Dolphins are 8-4 on the season, while the Devils enter at 3-9, and will be looking to snap a four-game slide of their own tonight.
CSI vs. FDU-FLORHAM AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (8-4 overall, 3-1 CUNYAC) vs. FDU-Florham (3-9 Overall, 1-1 Freedom)
Where: Ferguson Recreation Center – 285 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ
Tip-Off: 7:00pm
Live Video: http://livestream.com/accounts/12146892/mbb162
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/fduf/mbball/?
All-Time Series: CSI leads 14-8
Last Year’s Result: CSI won 81-69
Players To Watch (CSI): Will Fonseca continues to enjoy a healthy run, averaging 29 points over the last two games while leading the squad in rebounds as well. Frank Schettino played the most amount of minutes (27) since returning from injury on December 29, and notched 10 points and six assists in limited duty against CCNY on Tuesday. Schettino went 6-6 from the free-throw line as well. First-year junior Khaleeq Baum has been turning it on of late, and is now averaging 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14 minutes per game thus far.
Players To Watch (FDU): FDU’s balanced effort is led by Donte Ali’s 14 points per game and 8 rebounds per game so fat in 2015-16. Jayson Hughes is also a major weapon, averaging 41% from three-point range while leading the squad in assists with 42 while averaging 13 points per contest. Fellow backcourt mate Derek Leohner is also potent from downtown, posting 26 three’s (tied for the team lead) with 11.2 points per tilt.
News and Notes: The teams have split the last two meetings on each other’s floors in recent years. Two years ago, the Devils took a 76-70 overtime win over the Dolphins at the Ferguson Center. Prior to that, CSI had won four straight over FDU dating back to 2010. CSI is 8-4 all-time against FDU at Feguson. Seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams have been decides by less than 10 points. FDU needs to ramp up its defensive pressure. The team is 1-6 this season when allowing opponents over 70 points this season, and are 0-7 when opponents have shot over 40%. The Dolphins are shooting 48% coming in, one of the highest marks in NCAA Division III. Turnovers will be a key statistic as well. Dating back to last season, FDU has lost their last 18 games when committing 15+ turnovers in a game, and CSI is 1-3 this season when they’ve turned the ball over 15+ times as well. Along with that, CSI will want to win the battle of the boards. CSI is 5-0 this season and have won their last seven games when winning the rebounding battle. FDU has yet to out-rebound an opponent this season and are a -7.9 in rebounds per game this season.
