New York, NY | A long first-half scoring drought, coupled with poor shooting all afternoon, doomed the College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team as they fell hard to John Jay College on the road, 81-64.  The Dolphins fell for the second-straight time to dip to 4-8 overall, while the Bloodhounds surged back into the win column following a loss, improving to 8-3.  

The Dolphins and Bloodhounds played back-and-forth basketball for the front part of the first half this afternoon, swapping the lead four times, when all of a sudden CSI went ice cold and never fully recovered.  The Dolphins tried in vain to cut a 14-point halftime deficit but ultimately it was the Bloodhounds that kept CSI at bay and swelled the lead to score the win convincingly, their third-straight regular season win over the Dolphins dating back to last season.

An Austin Mick three, and then another by Adeola Latunji, gave CSI and early, 6-5, advantage, and a Joseph Zieris lay-in gave the Dolphins an 8-5 lead less than five minutes in.  CSI stayed hot, and two-straight Andrew Kartalis three's swelled CSI's lead to 19-9 with 12:34 to go in the stanza.  

John Jay started to chip away from there, pulling to within four, 21-17, on a Luciano Cruz-Fernandez three.  After Kyle LaGuardia's jumper cut CSI's lead to a digit, 23-22, CSI surged in front again, 29-25, on a pair of Rigaud Destime freebies with 8:14 to go.  From there, however, it was all Bloodhounds, as they closed the stanza on an 18-0 run to take a commanding, 43-29 lead into intermission.  CSI finished the half 0-15 from the floor with five turnovers over the final nine minutes, missing a pair of free throws as well.

CSI needed a surge coming out of the locker room but it wasn't realized, as the drought continued and JJC's run continued,  The Bloodhounds scored the first 11 points of the frame, growing the lead to 54-29 with 16:54 to go before a Latunji jumper finally broke a 29-0 run and stopped the Dolphins' scoreless streak at 11:50.  The Dolphins cut the lead later to 61-41, helped by three-straight baskets with 12:45 to go, but CSI couldn't keep the attack sustained enough, as John Jay entered the final 10 minutes of play ahead 68-47.  A 7-0 run for John Jay following a timeout seemed to seal the game, as the Bloodhounds took a 75-47 lead with about seven minutes to play.

A Danny Kenny lay-up grew JJC to their biggest lead at 5:38, 77-49.  The Dolphins closed the final minutes on a 15-4 run, cutting the final to 81-64, by the end of the 40 minutes of play.

For John Jay, they were led by Jayson Brower's 19 points on 6-12 shooting, adding 10 rebounds for the double-double.  Doug Levy had one as well with an even 10 points and team-best 13 rebounds, while LaGuardia finished with 17 points and Angel Rivera, 12.  CSI was led by a game-high 27 for Latunji, who added five rebounds as well.  Rigaud Destime led the Dolphins with 9 rebounds.  CSI finished 35.8% from the floor (24-67) and just 6-26 from beyond the arc (23.1%).  The Bloodhounds shot 45.3% (29-64), and also enjoyed an edge on the glass, 47-37, while forcing 15 CSI turnovers.

The Dolphins will now look to rebound quickly in time for their next contest, a tilt on Monday on the road against York College, at 7:30 PM.