For the third-straight game, the College of Staten Island men’s basketball team got off to a big lead, then rode the rest of the way to victory, this time at Hunter College en route to an 89-76 win. The win evened CSI at 7-7 overall this season, and improved the Dolphins to 6-1 in the CUNYAC, putting them atop the CUNYAC standings again in a tie with Lehman College. Hunter fell to 8-6, 5-2, respectively.
Hunter grabbed the opening lead, but CSI responded with a 6-0 run to start the game on a jumper by Adeola Latunji and four free-throws by Christian Taylor. Later, with Hunter mired in poor shooting, the Dolphins took full advantage, piecing together a 13-4 run. Raymond Savage started the run with a three and Latunji capped it with three straight baskets to give CSI a 24-13 lead with 9:38 to go in the opening stage.
A George Keener dunk and three-straight Matt Franks free-throws got Hunter back in the game at 26-22, but CSI answered promptly with a Krystian Kopec three and then a three-point play by Christian Taylor. After Hunter then cut the lead to 35-27, CSI made it’s more definitive run with six minutes to play in the half, going on a 15-4 tear, started on another Kopec three and capped by a thunderous Latunji dunk. That helped the Dolphins to a lopsided 51-32 halftime edge.
From there, CSI stayed sharp, keeping their comfortable lead secure by responding to every Hunter wave of attack in the second half. Keener was able to again cut the CSI lead on a jumper, this time 55-40 with 17 minutes to play, but CSI would whip up a 22-12 run over the next nine minutes to take their biggest lead at 77-52 with just over eight minutes to play. Taylor catapulted the run with three baskets, as did Stephen Flagg, who added a three in back-to-back fashion with Edin Bracic.
The lead was enough to sustain the visitors, and CSI held as much as a 20-point lead with under two minutes to play before Hunter finished the game on an 8-1 run.
On 11-17 shooting, Layunti led all with 27 points, adding six rebounds. Taylor poured in 19 points and nine rebounds, while Jade Spencer was next in line with 10 points and eight rebounds. Franks led all Hawks with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Gio Gabbidon was next in line with 13 points. CSI held a final 40-28 edge in rebounds, and were a plus-two in turnovers, forcing 21 Hawks turnovers overall. CSI was a balmy 21-27 from the free-throw line while Hunter finished 17-27 from the stripe.
After one turn around the CUNYAC slate, CSI is now 5-0 on the road against CUNYAC competition. They will next play Kean University at home on Monday, January 15, at 1pm, before resuming their CUNYAC schedule on Wednesday of next week.
