LAKEWOOD, NJ – The College of Staten Island men's basketball team closed out the week with a non-conference matchup against Georgian Court University on Saturday afternoon in Lakewood, NJ. A strong offensive first half propelled the Dolphins to an 80–67 victory, improving their overall record to 4–3.
Asa Kone opened the scoring with an early basket in the paint, followed by contributions from JJ Chestnut and Aaron Goldstein to spark a quick 6–0 start. Georgian Court attempted to slow the Dolphins' momentum, but additional efforts from Kone, Mitchell Wiggan, and Elijah Darby extended the lead to double digits at 27–17. Moments later, Chestnut buried a three-pointer to give CSI its largest lead of the half at 15.
The Lions trimmed the margin to 11 with late freethrows, but CSI carried a 39–28 advantage into halftime.
Georgian Court posted its highest scoring output of the day with 39 second-half points, but the Dolphins countered with 41 of their own. Kone set the tone again to start the second half with another finish inside, pushing the lead to 41–28 in favor of CSI. The Dolphins continued to apply pressure offensively, and a three-pointer from Eric Tynes stretched the advantage to 16 at 46–30, at that point was CSI's largest lead of the afternoon. With under 10 minutes remaining, Andrew Benedict and Kone helped CSI build a 61–41 cushion that held steady down the stretch.
Despite the Dolphins leading by as many as 20-points, the Lions cut the deficit to 13 before CSI secured the 80–67 road win.
Kone and Goldstein led the Dolphins with 18 points each. Kone added nine rebounds, while Goldstein chipped in three assists and two steals. Wiggan turned in a strong performance with 18 points, and Chestnut contributed 11 points and a team-high four assists. Joey Poulin anchored the defensive effort, collecting eight rebounds, six on the defensive end, and recording a pair of blocks.
The Dolphins will return to the Tank on Wednesday, December 3, to open East Coast Conference play against Mercy University at 7:30 p.m.
GAME REPLAY