Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team returned to the win column on Thursday night with a 96-84 home victory over Old Westbury. All five starters for the Mount

Keiran Halton was one of five Dolphins to record double-figures against Old Westbury.

scored in double-figures, with Joe Cooke (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and Nick DiMaggio (Croton, N.Y.) each finishing with a game-high 21 points.

Old Westbury held a lead as large as 15 points in the first half when Hakiem George canned a three with 5:03 left in the period to put the Panthers ahead 34-19. From there the Dolphins went on a 24-6 run to close the half and took a 43-40 advantage into the locker room.

The run was keyed by seven points from Cooke, including a three pointer at the horn to give the Mount its first lead of the contest. The Dolphins shot an even 50-percent from the field in the first half, making just three triples, two of which came in the closing minutes of the period.

Cooke and Pat Panetta (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) led the way in the first half with nine points each, with Panetta grabbing four rebounds. Eric Van Tine (Hawthorne, N.J.) added a spark off the bench netting five points and dishing out three assists in the half.

The Panthers opened the second half with six straight points to retake a three point advantage, before extending their advantage to seven points with 14:40 left in regulation on a Patrick Bonna jumper and then again at 10:54 on a three-point play from George.

The Dolphins then reeled off seven straight points to knot the score, keyed by a Panetta three pointer and back-to-back buckets from Cooke. After a pair of free throws from Garthlette James put Old Westbury back in front by a pair, Dino Johnson (Amsterdam, N.Y.) gave the Dolphins the lead for good on a triple with 9:00 left in the contest.

Mount Saint Vincent opened its largest lead of the game at 86-72 when Johnson canned another trey with 2:41 left. Old Westbury would get to within eight points late, but would run out of time as the Mount snapped its mini two game losing skid.

DiMaggio and Johnson made eight of the team's 10 three pointers in the game, as the Mount went 10-28 from downtown. DiMaggio finished the contest 4-9 from the floor, 4-7 from long range and 9-10 from the free-throw line and also added five assists. Johnson went 4-10 from distance on his way to 15 points and four helpers.

Cooke finished the night 8-16 from the floor overall and went a perfect 4-4 from the foul line. Panetta posted 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while freshman Keiran Halton (Manasquan, N.J.) rounded out the starting five with 12 points and three assists.

The Mount shot 50.8-percent from the floor in the win and 85.7-percent from the free-throw line. The defense forced 22 Old Westbury turnovers in the game and translated those into 18 points.

The win moves Mount Saint Vincent to 8-7 overall and to 6-3 in league play. The Mount will be back in action again on Saturday when it travels to Maritime for a rematch with the Privateers. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.