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College of Staten Island Athletics

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND ATHLETICS
MBB21823_POST
70
Staten Island STATEN I 8-18, 6-9
80
Winner Dist. Columbia DIST. CO 11-13, 9-6
Staten Island STATEN I
8-18, 6-9
70
Final
80
Dist. Columbia DIST. CO
11-13, 9-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Staten Island STATEN I 26 44 70
Dist. Columbia DIST. CO 33 47 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

DOLPHINS FAIL TO LOCK UP PLAYOFF SPOT AGAINST FIREBIRDS AFTER 80-70 LOSS

Washington D.C. - The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball Team failed to lock up a playoff spot today as they fell to the University of the District of Columbia by a final score of 80-70.  The Dolphins are now 8-18 on the season with the loss and have fallen to 6-9 in the East Coast Conference with one conference game remaining.  The Firebirds improve to 11-13 on the season and are 9-6 in East Coast Conference play.

The Dolphins jumped out to an early three-point lead in the opening minutes behind three-pointers from Messiah Mallory and Bryce Waterman, but the Firebirds answered with a three of their own to tie the score at eight five minutes into the game.  The teams would trade baskets for the next several minutes before UDC would finally jump out to a four-point lead, 18-14.  The Dolphins rallied back with a 7-0 run, ultimately taking the lead on another three, this one by Chris Velasquez.  However, this would be the last made field goal by the Dolphins in the half and the Firebirds would take a 33-26 lead into halftime.

The Firebirds led by as many as nine early in the second half, but did not extend that lead to double digits for the first time until there were 13 minutes remaining in the game.  The lead grew as large as thirteen, but the Dolphins connected on three straight triples, the first by Luis Armas, the second by Waterman, and the third by Mallory, to get back to within four.  After the CSI momentum was stifled by a Juanye Colon three, the Dolphins scored seven of the next eight points to trim the lead down to three.  Despite another resilient second-half effort, the Dolphins wouldn't get any closer than three and fell by ten points, 80-70.

Velasquez led the Dolphins in scoring once again with 21 points continuing his run of high-scoring efforts.  Mallory and Waterman each scored in double-figures as well finishing with 15 and 12 points respectively.  Mallory also finished one rebound shy of a double-double grabbing 9 boards.  Michael Aiken scored 21 to lead the Firebirds and Hartnel Haye registered a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double.  As a team, the Firebirds were an efficient 48% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc.  They also got 30 points from their bench as opposed to just 9 for the Dolphins who finished the game shooting 38% from the field and 36% from long range.

The Dolphins will host Roberts Wesleyan in their final home game of season on Saturday, February 25th, and there is a chance that the Dolphins will have already locked up a playoff spot heading into that game. If Queens College suffers one more loss in conference play, the Dolphins will clinch their first playoff berth as a Division II program.  If the Dolphins win on Saturday, it does not matter what the Knights do in their last two conference games as CSI would ensure they finish ahead of Queens in the standings.

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