The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team capped off night one of the 16th Annual Tournament of Heroes against Salisbury University tonight at The Tank in Staten Island, NY. The Dolphins battled hard but in the end, it was the Seagulls that came away victorious, earning their way to the Tournament of Heroes Championship game against SUNY Oneonta. The Dolphins fell 93-75 to fall to 4-5 on the year while the Seagulls improved to 6-3 overall.

After the Seagulls jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the early goings of tonight’s game, the Dolphins responded well and went on a 9-0 run which included two monstrous dunks by Adeola Latunji which electrified the crowd and swung the momentum into the Dolphins’ court. The visitors would claw their way back into the game and eventually regain the lead when Chad Barcikowski sunk a three-point basket.

The Dolphins were able to garner a lead midway through the first half and held onto that lead late until the Seagulls flew back and stole the lead right before the half. Up by as much as four, the Dolphins saw that lead quickly dwindle as the Seagulls found success inside against Staten Island. With 3:40 remaining in the first half the Dolphins relinquished their lead for the final time of the night as Salisbury went on a 10-0 run at the end of the half to extend their lead to six. 

In the second half, the Dolphins couldn’t figure out how to slow down Salisbury as the duo of Barcikowski and Johnny Fierstein was too much to handle as they would go on to combine for 53 of their teams 93 points. Bracic brought it the closest the Dolphins could get in the second half when he sunk a three-point shot with 10:03 left to bring the Dolphins within six. That basket wasn’t enough to rally Staten Island to a comeback as the Seagulls answered with a 6-0 run.

Staten Island was unable to recover after losing momentum despite solid play from Christian Taylor and Robert Rossiter. The two combined for 28 points on the night while Edin Bracic added 13 of his own, shooting 3-of-6 from three-point range. In limited action tonight Rigaud Destime made an impact, tallying five of his eight points on the night in the first minute he was in the game. Raymond Savage scored a season-high 10 points tonight while shooting 50% from the floor and converting both of his free throws.

CSI will take on Roanoke College after they fell to SUNY Oneonta in the opening game tonight.  CSI vs Roanoke will tip-off at 1:00 pm at The Tank in Staten Island, NY.