Box Score The College of Staten Island men's basketball squad clinched their fourth straight trip to the Tournament of Heroes Championship Game, blowing by Rivier University tonight at the Sports & Recreation Center by a 93-63 count, as part of the opening round of the 12th annual event. CSI's win, their fifth straight, moved the Dolphins to 6-2 overall this season while the Raiders fell to 4-5.
Jumpers by Tom Poitras and Nick Walsh got Rivier off to a 4-0 lead, but a 7-0 CSI run that followed, highlighted by a
Kevin King jumper and three-pointer, erased the deficit and CSI hardly looked back. CSI never did relinquish the lead but the teams did trade baskets back and forth in the opening seven-plus minutes until a 9-2 CSI run spanning three minutes gave the Dolphins a comfy 32-22 edge with 5:38 to go in the opening stanza. Two
Dylan Bulger baskets, a dunk by
Javon Cox, and a three-pointer by CSI senior
Bloochy Magloire, making his season debut after missing CSI's first seven games, punctuated the drive.
Another senior making his 2013-14 debut, Jonathan Chadwick-Myers drained a three-pointer of his own in the late stages to give CSI its biggest lead of the half, as CSI took a 14-point lead into the lockers, 46-32.
It took the Dolphins almost two minutes to convert a field goal in the second half, but when they did, the team went on a healthy 11-4 run to open the lead wider at 58-38, and from there, Rivier never truly threatened. Methodically, CSI continued to build their lead, and the team led by 30 points on three separate occasions in the second half before finalizing at 93-63.
CSI shot a robust 55.2% from the field in the game, connecting on 7-13 three-pointers as well, good for a season-best 53.8% rate. Rivier was held to 45.7% shooting and were forced into 19 turnovers to CSI's 10. The Dolphins also did extensive damage on the glass, owning a commanding 39-22 edge. CSI was paced by
Javon Cox's 22 points to go with seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
Kevin King knocked down 17 points while
Will Fonseca finished with 12 markers. Magloire and Chadwick-Myers, 2013 CUNYAC All-Stars, totaled 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 29 total minutes of play. Rivier saw 16 points from Walsh, while senior Tom Poitras poured in 15 markers to go with five rebounds.
The Dolphins will host Randolph College in the Tournament of Heroes championship game tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. Rivier will take on New Jersey City University in the consolation leg of the tourney at 1pm. Randolph defeated NJCU by a 62-50 count in the tournament's first game.
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In the tourney opener Randolph led wire-to-wire, getting out to an early 10-0 lead that it would never look back on. The Wildcats, who extended to 6-3 with the win, forced the Gothic Knights, losers of four straight, into an icy 36.0% shooting night, out-rebounding the Knights in the process by a 38-26 count.
The Wildcats' balanced attack saw 14 points each from Dylan Shiflett and Zach Desgain, who both added 9 rebounds, and Mike Ehilegbu, who finished with seven rebounds before fouling out. NJCU's Justin Harte led all scorers with 15 points thanks to a 4-of-8 performance from behind-the-arc. The Wildcats did a host of damage from the free-throw line, going 20-27 from the stripe compared to just 4-10 shooting by NJCU from the line.
Sunday's championship will see a first-time winner of the Tournament. Despite the friendly confines of the Sports & Recreation Center as a backdrop for the tourney, CSI has never won a Tournament of Heroes Championship, losing in its previous five championship appearances. Randolph College will be playing in its second Tournament of Heroes Final. In 2009, Randolph reached the final, falling to Piedmont College, 69-67. The matchup with CSI will be the first ever in the series between the two programs.
