Staten Island, NY |  In a game that featured nine lead changes and six ties, it was Hunter College that had just enough to get by the College of Staten Island in men's hoops, scoring a 76-75 win over the Dolphins at The Tank.  The win improved Hunter to 9-14 overall while CSI fell 9-15.

A late three from CSI's Rigaud Destime erased a sizable deficit that CSI found themselves in down the stretch, but a tough night at the free-throw line and then a three-pointer by Hunter's Melvin Collins with 1.5 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as Joseph Zieris' desperation half court three at the buzzer fell off of the mark, insuring the win for the Hawks.

In a back-and-forth start, the Dolphins and Hawks battled to a 9-9 stalemate before a Danny Fusco jumper gave Hunter an 11-9 lead.  It would, however, be Hunter's last lead for a huge stretch of time.  Zieris would knot the game at the line and then a Chris Velasquez jumper gave CSI the 13-11 lead, one that they would extend to 25-17 late on a jumper by Adeola Latunji.  CSI would extend the lead to eight points again at 4:53, but Hunter would have the last laugh, finishing on a 10-4 run to close to 31-29 at the break.  Fusco accounted for four points while Gio Gabbidon connected on a three.

Hunter stayed within distance in the second half, but CSI kept the lead until midway through the second half.  Another jumper by Latunji extended CSI to a 49-42 lead at 14:56.  From there, however, Hunter took over.  Gabbidon started with a pair of freebies and then back-to-back Jonah Bevaqua and Judah McIntyre baskets cut the deficit to one, 49-48 with 12:34 to go.  CSI would then turn the ball over twice and then missed a three, allowing HC to finally get on top on another McIntyre conversion.

Later, with the score tied at 52-52, the Hawks caught fire, going on an 11-2 run over a three-plus minute stretch to take a 63-54 lead, led by long jumpers by Fusco and George Keener.  With the game slipping from their hands, CSI needed a lift and they got one.  Struggling from the free-throw line all evening, CSI would hit three of six on their next three trips down the floor.  After a made free-throw the other way, Krystian Kopec raced in for a lay-up , and then after another HC miss, Latunji did the same to put CSI within one.  CSI would force a turnover at 4:35, and Kartalis would race in and give CSI back the lead at 65-64.

That set the table for the frantic finish.  With 2:43 to play, Hunter went up by four again on a McIntyre deuce, but Zieris responded with an interior bucket  and following a missed jumper, Latunji tied the score at 69-69.  With 1:42 to go, Gabbidon net two free-throws.  CSI missed their next basket and forced to get a stop, the Dolphins got one with just over a minute left.  Down two with seconds to play, that set the stage for Destime to put up the three that gave CSI the lead with 45 seconds to play.

Before the late heroics by Collins, CSI forced another stop on a missed lay-up by Keener with 25 ticks to play.  Forced to foul, CSI made two free throws by Latunji to extend to 74-71 with 19 seconds left.  CSI, however was whistled for a foul with 14 seconds left and McIntyre connected on his pair.  Forced to foul again, Zieris would make only one to put CSI up by two with 11 seconds to go.  The Dolphins defense converged on Keener who looked to take the final shot, but he found an open Collins on the opposite side of the court for the final points, draining the three with excatly 1.5 seconds remaining.

CSI was led by Latunji's 24 points, adding seven rebounds.  Zieris posted 15 points and seven rebounds while Destime put up 12 points and eight rebounds and five assists.  McIntyre led all Hunter scorers with 22 points, while Gabbidon finished with 18 points.  CSI finished shooting 45.9% from the field (28-61) but connected on just 13-of-25 free throws (52%).  Hunter connected on 52.7% (29-55).  CSI finished with a modest 33-32 edge in rebounds and were a plus-4 in the turnover column, 16-12.

CSI has one more game to play before finalizing their season.  They will host Baruch College on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, at 7:30 PM in what will also be Senior NIght at CSI.  The Dolphins will honor seniors Adeola Latunji, Thomas Delahanty and Krystian Kopec.  

---

GAME VIDEO

---

---

PHOTO GALLERY

---