Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team was upended at home on Saturday afternoon by league favorite Farmingdale St. by a score of 101-85. Junior captain Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led four Dolphins in double-figures with a team-high 23 points.
 
Although the Dolphins never trailed in the contest, they kept their deficit under double-figures until a 24-11 spurt pushed the Rams in front 41-25 after a Joshua Smith triple with 3:17 left before the half.
 
The Mount Saint Vincent deficit would remain double-figures after the first 20 minutes of action, after A.J. Mathews converted a bucket at the horn to send the visitors to the locker room leading 51-39.
 
In a high paced first stanza, the visiting Rams shot a blistering 66.7-percent from the floor and scored 38 of their 51 points in the paint. Ibrahim Johnson led the offensive attack with 15 points in 12 minutes of action.
 
The Dolphins also had a strong first period, after shooting just under 41-percent from the floor. The Mount went 4-for-9 from behind the arc in the frame, with Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) knocking down three triples for the Mount.
 
Mount Saint Vincent came out of the break and quickly sliced the Farmingdale St. lead in half keyed by three-point field goals from Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) and Chris Bonaventura (Staten Island, N.Y.). The Bonaventura triple got the Dolphins to within six points with just under 17 minutes to play.
 
The Rams would respond with a run of their own after the Bonaventura trey and scored 12 of the next 15 points to open a 77-55 lead following a Ryan Davis fast break conversion with 11:52 to go in regulation.
 
The Mount would remain behind by double-figures until it put together one final run at the league favorite in the middle stages of the second half. Trailing by 15 at the 10:31 mark, the Dolphins used a 14-5 spurt keyed by seven points from Cunningham to get to within 77-71 with 6:59 showing on the clock.
 
Six points would be as close as Mount Saint Vincent would get the remainder of the day, as the Rams got back out in front by 17 after a 14-3 run. The Dolphins would fall behind by a game-high 20 points following a pair of Smith free-throws in the final minute.
 
The Dolphins finished the day shooting 39.7-percent from the floor, but knocked down a season-high 11 three-pointers and shot 44-percent on the day from behind the arc. Caputo and Bonaventura each canned three triples in the contest and Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) buried a pair.
 
Cunningham scored in double-figures for the 10^th time this season and better then 20 points in a tilt for the third time. He finished 8-for-16 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the stripe to go along with five rebounds and a team-high four assists. He now leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game.
 
Gauvard has his third straight strong outing off the bench after tallying 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting overall. He also secured two rebounds and went 2-for-4 from behind the arc.
 
Bonaventura and Caputo each finished the day with 11 tallies for the Mount, with Caputo chipping in three assists and Bonaventura adding two helpers and three boards. Waite also had a steady afternoon after scoring nine points and leading the team with eight rebounds.
 
Farmingdale St. had five players in double-figures in the game and three who scored better then 20 points. Matthews posted a game-high 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds. He also blocked a pair of shots in the win.
 
Smith and Johnson each contributed 21 points to the victory, with Johnson also hauling in 10 rebounds. Ryan Davis also had a strong afternoon after netting 11 points and handing out a game-high nine assists.
 
For the game, Farmingdale St. shot a red-hot 65.5-percent from the floor, despite going 2-for-9 from behind the arc. The Rams held a huge edge in the paint, scoring 68 points inside to go along with 30 off of the fast break.
 
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 3-8 overall on the season and to 1-3 against Skyline opponents. The Dolphins will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday night when they head to Old Westbury. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.