New York, NY | The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team saw a halftime lead slip away, as they fell to previously winless City College of New York by a 79-70 count in Manhattan.  CCNY lifted to 1-17 with the victory while CSI dropped their third-straight, falling to 6-13.

In a statistical dead heat all night, it was a strong second half of shooting for CCNY that helped them outscore the Dolphins, 47-32, en route to their first victory on the season.  

The Beavers raced out to the first six points of the game as Daniel Piszczatowski converted a pair of inside drives.  CSI, however, countered with a 9-2 run to grab their first lead of the frame, capped by an Adeola Latunji drive that made it 9-8 after the game's first five and a half minutes.  CCNY grabbed the lead back on the ensuing possession and would hold on to it for a lengthy share of the first half, building to as much as a five-point lead on a pair of occasions.

At 6:48, CSI was able to get even thanks to another Latunji basket and a free-throw from Joseph Zieris, and a minute later, CSI grabbed a lead on a pair of Andrew Kartalis free-throws, part of a 9-0 run, which by the end saw CSI up 33-25.  CSI would equal the lead later before a buzzer-beater from in close by Jonathan Suazo closed the CCNY gap to 38-32 at the break.

The second half, however, belonged to the home team.  After CSI scored the opening bucket of the frame, the Beavers used an 11-0 run to take back the lead, highlighted by two Piszczatowski baskets and a three to start it by Torrel Trim.  

CSI was able to stop the bleeding when Zieris hit on a lay-up later to cut the CSI deficit to 50-44 with 13:39 to go, but the Beavers fired back with a 13-6 spurt which saw two Romello Rashad jumpers to spearhead the attack.  

From there, CCNY weathered every CSI flurry.  The Dolphins cut the lead to five with 4:46 to go, but Yassine Sakhi quickly put in a jumper to end the rally, and with inside of two minutes left in the game, the Beavers connected on five of eight free-throws while CSI continued to be cold from the floor, ultimately resulting in the nine-point difference by the final whistle, 79-70.

Sakhi led all scorers for CCNY with 28 points, adding eight boards, while Isaiah Denard posted 17 points and Piszczatowski 12.  Latunji posted 23 points for CSI, while Zieris pitched in for 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Both teams shot 48.1% from the floor (26-54), with CCNY holding a slight edge in rebounds, 32-30, and in turnovers forced, 16-14.

CSI will look to bounce back on Saturday as part of Alumni Day at CSI, when the Dolphins will face Medgar Evers College with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 PM.