The College of Staten Island men’s basketball squad took on John Jay College at 7:30 pm at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center for a CUNYAC matchup.  The men rebounded nicely after a tough loss to Hunter College with a 77-67 win over the Bloodhounds to improve to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in the CUNYAC.  The Bloodhounds would fall to 3-17 overall and 2-9 in the CUNYAC.
 
The men opened up play with a 14-0 run over the Bloodhounds with some extraordinary shooting as they missed just two of their eight shots.  It took five minutes for John Jay to find their way onto the scoreboard.  Jordan Aiken was the one who kicked off the scoring for the Bloodhounds with a nice mid-range jumper.
 
Frank Schettino had a nice start to the game as he scored six of the teams 14 opening points when he sliced through the porous Bloodhound defense and found his way to the hoop.  Staten Island saw their double digit lead fall to just five mid-way through the first half as their shooters started to cool off.  Will Fonseca was able to reignite the Dolphins’ stagnant offense when he stole the ball at the three point line and threw down a monster one-handed dunk which also got the crowd on their feet.
 
The Bloodhounds weren’t able to keep the Dolphins quiet as the men would go on a 6-0 run late in the half to extend their lead back to 10 after sharpshooter Edin Bracic sank his second three of the half.
 
Staten Island held a 36-27 lead heading into the locker room. The Dolphins went into the half with an 18-12 edge in points in the paint, while the Bloodhound had the advantage in second chance points, 7-4. Fonseca led all scorers with 13 points at the half.
 
Halftime was not kind to the Dolphins as they came out in the second half cold and allowed the Bloodhounds to find their way back into the game.  John Jay was able to tie it up 47-47 mid way through the second half when Gabriel Torikashvili hit a three-point shot from the right side.
 
The Dolphins managed to regain a slight lead but it took just two minutes for John Jay to get their first lead of the game when Luciano Cruz-Fernandez hit a three-point shot from the right corner to put them up 54-53.  Fonseca would not allow the Bloodhounds to stay ahead for long as he would take another steal the length of the court for another fast break one-handed jam to give the Dolphins their lead back.
 
Fonseca would take the game into his own hands and would convert a pair of jumpers which gave the Dolphins a five point lead with five minutes to go.  The Bloodhounds started to struggle as they committed four turnovers on the offensive end over a two minute span. 
 
John Jay went cold towards the end of the game which allowed the Dolphins to pull ahead to a double digit lead.  The Bloodhounds were forced to foul and send the Dolphins to the line.  Just a week earlier the men found themselves in a similar situation and missed six straight free throws down the stretch.  Tonight was different, Schettino found himself at the charity stripe often and was able to take advantage of the opportunity and seal the deal for the Dolphins.
 
Schettino led the Dolphins in scoring on the night with 28 points for the first time since his 29-point outing against WPI on November 21, 2015.  Also that is the first time since that game that Fonseca did not lead the Dolphins in scoring.
 
The Dolphins are back in action on Saturday when they take on the CUNYAC’s leader, Brooklyn College at 1:00pm at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center.