FLUSHING, NY – The College of Staten Island men's basketball team played its final regular-season road game Thursday evening, defeating Queens College in Flushing by a score of 97-65. A dominant opening stretch powered the Dolphins to the victory, improving their record to 19-8 overall and 10-5 in East Coast Conference (ECC) play.
CSI set the tone immediately, opening the game on a commanding 24-4 run. The surge began with a fastbreak dunk by Asa Kone following the opening tip. The Dolphins' starting five forced five Knights turnovers in the first four minutes, converting them into 15 points for an early 15-0 lead and Joey Poulin added to the run before the Knights finally got on the scoreboard. JJ Chestnut later extended the lead to 20 with a tip-in off a missed three-pointer, making it 22-2.
Queens trimmed the deficit to 16, 24-8, but the Dolphins responded with a 21-10 run to push their advantage to 27 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. CSI capped the dominant first half when Aaron Goldstein drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer, sending the Dolphins into halftime with a 56-25 lead.
The second half was more evenly played, with Queens outscoring CSI 41-40, but the early deficit proved too large to overcome. Chestnut scored the first basket of the half nearly two minutes in, and Poulin later extended the lead to its largest margin of the night at 35 points, 60-25, after converting two freethrows.
The Knights managed to cut the deficit to 18 midway through the half, but Goldstein answered with five consecutive points to restore a 23-point cushion, 70-47. From there, CSI maintained control and closed out the 97-65 victory.
Chestnut led all scorers with 21 points while adding five assists and four steals. Kone recorded a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Goldstein finished with 19 points, including three three-pointers, while Eric Tynes added 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Poulin contributed 10 points and filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
CSI returns home Saturday for Senior Day when the Dolphins host Molloy University at 3:00 PM in The Tank.
GAME REPLAY
