Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team was edged on Saturday afternoon by cross-town rival Lehman in the CMSV Tip-Off Tournament Championship game by a score of 54-52. Senior
Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the way with 18 points on his way to being named to the All-Tournament Team.
The entire game on Saturday was played inside a 10 point window and featured six ties and eight lead changes. The final lead change of the day came when Anthony Rodriguez canned a jumper in the lane with 39 seconds left to push the Lightning in front 53-52.
Lehman got off to a quick start on Saturday and held a lead of five points on three occasions in the first half. After a pair of Kelvin Gil free-throws put the Mount in a 22-17 hole, the Dolphins ran off 11 of the next 15 points to take a 28-26 advantage after a Cunningham bucket with 1:44 left in the half.
Lehman would quickly respond on a Rodriguez jumper to send the two teams to the locker room deadlocked at 28-28 after 20 minutes of play.
Both teams shot under 40-percent from the floor in the first half, with Phil Ductan leading all scores with 13 points in the half on 4-for-6 shooting.
For the second straight day, Mount Saint Vincent came out in the second half and quickly opened up a lead on its opponent. A Brandon Serrano (Hempstead, N.Y.) bucket in the first minute started a 22-12 spurt over nearly 11 minutes that pushed the Mount in front 50-40, the largest lead by either team on the day.
D'Andre McPhatter (Bronx, N.Y.) capped the run with a lay-in with 8:36 to play in regulation, before the Dolphins went over seven minutes without a point. Over that stretch the Lightning used an 11-0 run capped by a three-point play from Stanley Stephens that got the visitors in front 51-50 with 2:29 to play.
Mount Saint Vincent would regain the lead when Cunningham finished off a fast break bucket with just under a minute to play, but Lehman would rally with the final three points, including Rodriguez's conversion in the final 40 seconds, to hold off the Mount.
Down the stretch, Mount Saint Vincent misfired on five free-throws and went 1-for-7 from the floor in the final four minutes, including an attempt at the horn to tie the score.
Cunningham led the Mount with 18 tallies on 8-for-18 shooting and also contributed five rebounds and two assists.
Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) netted 10 points and canned a pair of triples to go along with four assists.
McPhatter paced the Dolphins on the glass with eight boards to go along with six points, while Serrano rounded out the day with nine points, six rebounds and a block. Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) led the team in assists with five and also hauled in two rebounds.
Lehman received 15 points from Phil Dutcan on 4-for-9 shooting and got 12 points from tournament MVP Kelvin Gil. Ductan also led the team with four assists and seven rebounds.
For the game, Mount Saint Vincent held Lehman to 30.9-percent shooting, but shot just 45.5-percent from the free-throw line. Lehman outscored the Mount 15-5 from the stripe and 14-10 off of turnovers.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 1-1 overall on the season. The Dolphins will be off until after Thanksgiving when they travel to St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on November 27. Tip-off with the Bears is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
