Final Statistics
New York, N.Y. – College of Mount Saint Vincent freshman
Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a career-high 15 points, including the game winning basket with five seconds left in regulation to
send the Dolphins past New York University 64-63. Cunningham was one of two Dolphins to score in double-figures on the afternoon, as
Dino Johnson (Amsterdam, N.Y.) posted a game-high 20 points.
The game was tightly contested throughout as it featured four ties and seven lead changes. The largest lead of the first half came with 2:54 left in the first period when Nick DiMaggio (Croton, N.Y.) drilled a three-pointer to push the Dolphins in front 34-26. NYU would cut that lead in half heading into halftime, scoring the last four points of the half.
The two teams combined to make 13 three-point field goals in the first half, with the Mount canning seven and the Violets drilling six. The Mount held NYU to just 33.3-percent shooting from the floor in the first period, but the Violets used their six threes and 8-9 shooting from the charity stripe to trail only 34-30 at the break. Mount Saint Vincent shot just two free throws in the opening twenty minutes, going 1-2.
The Dolphins led for the majority of the second half and extended its lead to a game-high 10 points with 16:31 left in regulation on a Johnson jumper. The Violets responded with a quick 9-0 run to cut their deficit to one at 41-40 with just over thirteen minutes left.
Mount Saint Vincent would spread its lead back to eight points on a Cunningham basket with 11:11 left, but would go nearly three minutes without scoring and after a Chip Borsi layup capped off another 9-0 spurt, the Dolphins trailed 49-48 with 8:19 left on the clock.
The Mount quickly regained the lead on a Keiran Halton (Manasquan, N.J.) layup and again extended its advantage back to six points on a fast break bucket from Johnson with 6:46 remaining. From there the Violets used a 10-4 run to tie the score at 59 with just over two minutes left. NYU took the lead 62-61 on a Keith Jensen triple with 56 ticks left and pulled ahead by two with 37 seconds left on a Derek Becker free throw.
Trailing 63-61 with a half minute left in the contest, Cunningham scored the final three points of the game. He converted a free throw with 31 seconds left and then converted the game winner out of a timeout with five seconds left. NYU's Carl Yaffe could not convert a desperation three in the final seconds and the Dolphins escaped with the one point victory.
Although NYU had three players score in double figures, the Violets shot just 37.5-percent for the game. The Violets convert 13 three pointers and also went 14-19 from the free-throw line in the game. Jensen led NYU with 18 point and Yaffe finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Johnson went 8-15 from the floor overall and 4-10 from long distance on his way to the game-high point total. Cunningham was 6-14 in scoring his career best 15 points and also chipped in with three rebounds and a career-high five assists. Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) capped off a solid day with eight points, six rebounds and a career best five assists.
Overall the Mount shot 48.1-percent from the floor and an even 40-percent (10-25) from long range. Mount Saint Vincent outrebounded the Violets 32-31, but it took just four free throws in the contest.
The win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 3-1 overall on the season. The Dolphins will be back in action again on Monday when they return home to host the College of Staten Island. Tip-off at the Sharp Center is set for 7:00 p.m.
Post Game Notes: Saturday's game was the first this season that a freshman did not lead Mount Saint Vincent in scoring….It marked the 89th straight game with a three-point field goal…No opponent has shot 40-percent against Mount Saint Vincent this season.
