New York, NY  |  The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team brought their three-game losing skid to an end tonight behind a 49% shooting performance in their 67-59 victory over Hunter College.  The Dolphins move to 5-9 with the win while the loss for Hunter, their seventh straight, drops them to 1-12 on the season.

The game started slowly at the offensive end of the floor for both teams as cold shooting characterized the first ten minutes of the game.  After the score was knotted up at four with 16:36 to play in the first half, the Dolphins went on a prolonged scoring drought that carried on for over six minutes.  Fortunately for CSI, the Hawks also shot poorly in the early going as well and were only able to build a six-point, 10-4, lead before CSI ended the scoreless stretch at the midway point of the half.

Behind 10-6, the Dolphins scored six straight points to take their first lead since the opening minutes.  It was also at this point in the game that CSI began to find their rhythm from the field as Joseph Zieris and Adeola Latunji jumpstarted the previously dormant Dolphins offense.  Ahead 12-10 following the 6-0 run, the Dolphins would outscore Hunter 14-7 over the next five minutes to give them a 26-17 lead entering halftime.

The CSI surge late in the half was due primarily to the contributions of Latunji and Zieris who scored 12 and 9 points respectively.  However, the effort at the defensive end of the floor for the Dolphins was consistent throughout the first 20 minutes as the Hawks shot only 6-31 from the field, 0-13 from downtown.  What kept Hunter within striking distance was their 31 first-half attempts to CSI's 24, many made possible by the Hawks' 13 offensive rebounds.

Latunji and Zieris picked up right where they left of fin the first half scoring the Dolphins' first six points following the intermission.  This put the Dolphins ahead 32-19 before George Keener threw down what Hunter hoped would be a momentum-shifting dunk to cut the lead to eleven.  Moments later, a Jonah Bevacqua three-pointer cut the lead to eight, but CSI would recover and regain control.

Krystian Kopec scored three straight for the Dolphins before Zieris and Latunji combined to score CSI's next eight points to put the Dolphins up a game-high fifteen with 10:42 to play.  The two teams would exchange baskets during the three minutes that followed until a Melvin Collins three-pointer punctuated a quick 5-0 spurt by the Hawks that cut the lead back down to ten.

Once again CSI came up with an answer in the form of a Rigaud Destime three-ball to put the Dolphins back in front by thirteen.  However, the Hawks refused to go away and responded with a long-ball from Keener to immediately get back within ten.

Destime connected on another from beyond the arc with the shot clock winding down on the next Dolphins possession to put his team back up thirteen.  An Austin Mick layup then matched CSI's largest lead of fifteen which appeared to close the door on Hunter. 

With the Dolphins appearing to be in complete command up by 12 with less than a minute remaining,  Bevacqua knocked down a jumper which trimmed the lead back down to ten and gave him 20 points for the game.  Destime then missed a pair from the free-throw line, the second and third of six straight CSI misses from the charity stripe.  Hunter would capitalize on that pair of misses with another make by Keener and followed up the next two missed Dolphin free-throws with a basket from Bevacqua that cut the lead to six.

This would be the last time the outcome was in question as a Destime frree-throw made it a three-possession game with 34 seconds to play.  The Dolphins defense then came up big one final time forcing a Hawks turnover that sealed the win and snapped the Dolphins' three-game losing streak with a 67-59 victory.

Latunji once again led CSI in scoring with 24 points on 8-21 from the field while Zieris scored 17 on an efficient 8-11.  Destime also tallied double-digits with 11 and Mick finished with 9 to go along with a team-leading 6 assists.  For the Hawks, both Keener and Bevacqua had 24, accounting for all but eleven Hunter College points.  Keener also led the team in rebounding with 8 and the two players combined to shoot 20-38 in a game where the Hawks shot just 23-65 overall.

The Dolphins return home this Saturday afternoon in the second half of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader against Brooklyn College.  Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 3 PM.