Staten Island, NY | The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team kept their win streak alive tonight with an 88-75 on the back of Austin Mick’s 29-point career night. The Dolphins extended their win streak to six with the win over Hunter College to improve to 8-6, 4-1 while the Hawks dropped to 3-9, 1-4.
In the 76th meeting between these two programs, Mick found his shot early on and stayed unconscious for the rest of the game. Mick came into today’s game with a career-high 9 points and demolished that with a 29-point outing in which he hit a CSI record 9 three-point baskets. Christian Taylor also finished with a solid stat line for the night, pouring in 19 points and pulling down a season-high 15 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Stephen Flagg continued his string of excellent play and came just one rebound shy of his first career triple-double.
After winning the Tournament of Heroes, the Dolphins have won both of their games by double digits, which marks the first time this season they have done so.
The Dolphins trailed for more than half of the first half but would head into the locker room with a six-point lead after going on an 11-4 run. Staten Island never trailed by more than seven points and was able to chip away at the Hawks’ lead. Krystian Kopec gave the Dolphins a 34-32 lead after hitting his lone basket of the game. With the time winding down, the Dolphins dug in their heels and held Hunter scoreless for the final three minutes of the opening half capped off by a pair of Mick 3-point baskets.
Early in the second half, the Hawks briefly took a one-point lead before Taylor converted a 3-pointer to give the Dolphins the lead for good. With the inside game firing on all cylinder’s the Flagg continued to feed the hot hand from outside the arc. Mick was the main beneficiary which helped the Dolphins jump out to a 16-point lead with 3:31 remaining.
After having an off-shooting night, Adeola Latunji received a pass on a fast break to throw down a two-handed slam which brought the crowd to their feet. Over the last two minutes of the game, the Hawks managed just five points all of which came in the last 48 seconds. The Dolphins once again put together a quality afternoon of work to cruise to a 13-point with over a conference rival.
The Dolphins will now look ahead to Monday, January 7 where they will head to Brooklyn, NY for another CUNYAC opponent in Brooklyn College at 7:00 pm.
