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College of Staten Island Athletics

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND ATHLETICS
MBB2823_POST
67
Queens (NY) Queens 7-16,4-8 ECC
73
Winner Staten Island CSI 8-15,6-7 ECC
Queens (NY) Queens
7-16,4-8 ECC
67
Final
73
Staten Island CSI
8-15,6-7 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Queens (NY) Queens 33 34 67
Staten Island CSI 37 36 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

MEN'S BASKETBALL TAKES BIG STEP TOWARDS SECURING PLAYOFF SPOT WITH WIN OVER QUEENS

Staten Island, NY - The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball Team took a huge step towards securing a playoff spot earlier tonight as they defeated the Knights of Queens College by a final score of 73-67.  With the victory, the Dolphins are now 8-15 on the season and 6-7 in conference play.  With the loss, the Knights fall to 7-16 on the year and 4-8 against the East Coast Conference.  Now 1.5 games ahead of Queens in the standings, the Dolphins maintain complete control over the fate of their playoff hopes heading into their final three conference games of the year.

Both teams came out very slowly at the offensive end of the floor with just six points scored in the first 4:30 of the game.  Following the first media timeout, both offenses came to life beginning with a Chris Velasquez three-pointer.  Velasquez would go on to score nine straight CSI points, but his team still played from behind for much of the first half.  Velasquez would ultimately tie the game at 30 with another three-pointer before Luis Armas gave CSI the lead with a second consecutive make from the outside.  This basket put the Dolphins ahead for good and CSI would go into halftime leading by four.

CSI began the second half with a 6-0 run to go ahead by double-digits for the first time, and the Knights would not get to within ten again until there were less than ten minutes remaining in the game.  The Dolphin lead would remain greater than two possessions all the way until the final minute when Queens got back to within six on a pair of free-throws.  The Knights would get as close as four with 25 seconds remaining on another pair fo free-throws, but the Dolphins closed the door from the line and picked up their biggest win of the season.  

It was a career night for Velasquez who was playing in his second-to-last regular season home game as a Dolphin.  He scored a career-high 26 points and was one of four Dolphins in double-figures on the evening.  Messiah Mallory finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and 9 boards and JJ Chestnut was also one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Luis Armas was the last of four Dolphins to score at least ten points in the game, and all of CSI's starters played 34 minutes or more.  Sunnie Diamond scored 24 points against the Dolphins for the second time this season, but Tyron Wright was the only other Knight with more than three shot attempts to shoot above 50%.  Wright finished with 16 and was also the only other player for Queens with more than ten points in the game.  

The Dolphins still have plenty of work to do to clinch a playoff spot, but they are in complete control of their destiny with three conference games left.  One game ahead of Queens, the Dolphins can lock up a playoff spot with three straight wins, but would risk contending with potential tiebreakers if they lose one game or more.

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