Staten Island, NY - The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team picked up their first win of the season in dramatic fashion this afternoon as they held on in the final seconds to defeat the Pace University Setters by a final score of 73-70. The win, the first of the season for the Dolphins and the first for Nick Doran as Head Coach, moves their record to 1-5. The previously unbeaten Setters are now 7-1 following the loss. For the CSI Men's Basketball program, the victory is their second over a Division II opponent and their first against a non-conference Divison II opponent. 

KEY MOMENTS

The Dolphins got off to their best start of the season in the game's opening minutes as Messiah Mallory quickly scored the game's first seven points on his first three shot attempts. Leading 7-2, the Dolphins' hot shooting continued with four straight CSI three-pointers, one from Bryce Waterman and three straight from Austin Mick. The Dolphins took the lead by double-digits for the first time behind another three from Mallory at the midway point of the half, but this ten-point lead would be their largest of the first twenty minutes. Pace came out energized to open the second half and immediately went on an 11-0 run to go in front by seven, but the Dolphins responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead back. Behind two more threes from Mick and another from Chris Velasquez, the Dolphins took their largest lead of the game, 65-54. However, the double-digit lead was short-lived as another 9-0 Setters run brought them back to within two. This set up a frantic final minute where a six-point CSI lead quickly became one after three consecutive Dolphins turnovers led to two Pace baskets and a Dolphins foul. Pace converted on the front half of a one-and-one, but CSI rebounded a miss on the second attempt before closing out the three-point victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Both teams shot 10-27 in the first half, but the Dolphins took the lead into the intermission behind their six made three-pointers. In the second half, the Dolphins shot over 45% from the field and 40% from long range. These numbers were slightly better than the Pace second-half shooting numbers as the Setters shot 43% from the floor and 38% from downtown. Down the stretch of the game, it was the foul disparity between the two sides that played a huge role in the outcome. Michael Ashley fouled out with several minutes left to play and Pace did not commit their first team foul until there were less than five minutes to play. This forced the Setters to foul several times in the closing seconds before a CSI miss could give them a chance to tie.  

DOLPHIN OF THE GAME

Today's Dolphin of the game came within two points of matching a career-high in scoring as Austin Mick scored a season-high 27 points in the CSI victory. Mick connected on seven of fourteen threes to go along with three rebounds and four assists. He also hardly came off of the court playing thirty-nine minutes in the CSI win. 

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