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College of Staten Island Athletics

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND ATHLETICS
MBB12823_POST
103
Winner St. Thomas Aquinas STA 19-3,10-0 ECC
62
Staten Island CSI 6-14,4-6 ECC
Winner
St. Thomas Aquinas STA
19-3,10-0 ECC
103
Final
62
Staten Island CSI
6-14,4-6 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
St. Thomas Aquinas STA 45 58 103
Staten Island CSI 21 41 62

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

DOLPHINS CAN'T BOUNCE BACK FROM SLOW START IN LOSS TO SPARTANS

Staten Island, NY -  The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball Team got off to a slow start and were never able to bounce back in today's loss to St. Thomas Aquinas College.  The Dolphins fall to 6-14 on the year with the defeat and drop to 3-7 in conference play.  The Spartans improve to to 19-3 with the win and remained perfect in conference play with their tenth win against the ECC.  Ahead of today's game, the Dolphins hosted the 2023 Matty White Alumni Game which featured many CSI alumni, many joined by family and friends, competing in the game before taking in some Dolphins basketball.  The game, which saw 178 total points scored was broadcast ahead of the Dolphins game against the Spartans and featured several in-game interviews and a three-man broadcast team for the special event.

The Dolphins came out struggling with their outside shooting and quickly found themselves in an eight-point hole early in the game.  A Bryce Waterman three would cut the deficit down to five, but this three would be Waterman's only make from beyond the arc in the game.  CSI would fall behind by double-digits for the first time with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half, but Messiah Mallory gave the Dolphins a mich-needed offensive spark to keep them within striking distance.  With CSI trailing by eleven, Mallory proceeded to score eight points during the next four minutes to bring the Dolphins back to within nine.  However, this would be the final time the Dolphins were within ten and the Spartan lead ballooned all the way to 24 by halftime.

The Dolphins got as close as twenty on two separate occasions in the second half, but they would not get any closer than this in the final 17:30.  The Spartans would gradually increase their lead throughout the remainder of the game and the Dolphins turned to their bench to close the game.  After scoring just 21 in the first half, the Dolphins scored 41 in the second half.  Despite this, CSI was still outscored by 17 following the intermission and the Spartans finished with over 100 points for the fifth time this season.

It was a shooting struggle for all but two Dolphins in this game as both Mallory and Chris Velasquez were very efficient for the CSI.  Velasquez led the Dolphins in scoring with 18 points on 7-11 shooting.  Mallory finished with 17, most coming in the first half, on 7-10 from the field.  The duo of Velasquez and Mallory combined to shoot 4-5 from beyond the arc and David Shkolniy shot 3-6 from downtown.  The rest of the Dolphins combined to shoot 3-22 from deep in a game where the team took 32 threes on 56 shot attempts.  Five Spartans scored in double-figures, and STAC did much of their damage in the game from three-point range.  The Spartans took 35 threes and connected on 17 of them.  All five players that finished with double-figures hit at least two triples led by Jamal Barnes' five three-pointers.  Antonio Vendola, the team's leading scorer with 18 points, shot 4-7 from distance and Ethan Millirons shot 4-6 from deep.

The Dolphins have two huge conference games looming next weekend.  First, they will face Daemen University on Friday looking to split the season series with the Wildcats.  Two days later on Sunday, the Dolphins will look to earn a season series sweep of the D'Youville University Saints.

GAME VIDEO:


ALUMNI GAME VIDEO
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