New York, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team dropped a tough 85-79 decision on the road at Skyline Conference foe Yeshiva on Tuesday night. Senior
Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a season-high 23 points in the game, while classmate
Michael Knott (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) recorded a career-best 14 points.
Mount Saint Vincent got off to a quick start on Tuesday and built its largest lead of the game five minutes into the tilt. After falling behind by two points on three occasions in the opening minutes, the Dolphins used a 9-0 run to jump in front 13-4. The spurt was keyed by a three point play from Cunningham and a three-point field goal from Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.).
The Mount would maintain its lead until a 10-0 stretch from the Maccabees covering four minutes in the middle stages of the opening period. Three pointers from Benjy Ritholtz and Eitan Selevan helped Yeshiva regain the lead.
The Dolphins would respond with a five point run to knot the score at 28-28 on a lay-in from
James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.), but Yeshiva would score four of the final six points of the half to take a slim 32-30 lead into halftime.
Yeshiva finished the first 20 minutes shooting 48.1-percent from the floor and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc. The Dolphins shot an even 40-percent overall and had eight different players reach the scoring column before halftime.
Knott got the lead back for the Dolphins quickly in the second half with a three-point play to push them in front 33-32. The two teams would trade the lead five more times over the next two minutes before an 11-2 run from Yeshiva saw its lead expand to eight points after a Ritholtz bucket with 16:31 left in regulation.
The Maccabees would increase their lead to a game-high 14 points following another Rithoiltz triple with 12:25 left in the second half.
Trailing by 14 points, Mount Saint Vincent used an 8-0 spurt to slice its deficit to six points with 9:32 to play in the half. Brandon Duenas (Gilbert, Ariz.) accounted for half the Dolphins' points in the run.
Yeshiva would get its lead back to eight points, before the Mount used a 9-0 run to regain the advantage at the 6:20 mark. Cunningham tallied five times in the run and
Stephen Oliver (Brooklyn, N.Y.) converted a three-point field goal to key the spurt.
Mount Saint Vincent's lead would last just 19 seconds as Dovie Hoffman drained a three-pointer to give the Maccabees the lead back for good on the night. The Mount would get as close as three points down the stretch, but Yeshiva converted 12 free-throws in the final 1:49 to hold off the Dolphins.
Yeshiva had four players in double-figures on Tuesday, with Hoffman leading the way with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting overall and a perfect 3-for-3 night from behind the arc. Gil Bash added 22 points for the Maccabees to go along with 10 assists. Shlomo Weissberg also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Cunningham matched the game-high in scoring after going 8-for-17 from the floor overall and 2-for-3 from distance. He also chipped in team-highs in rebounds with six, assists with four and steals with three.
Knott wrapped up his career night going 5-for-6 from the field and also added five rebounds.
D'Andre McPhatter (Bronx, N.Y.) added five points, five rebounds and three helpers for the Dolphins.
For the game, Mount Saint Vincent shot 43.3-percent from the floor and 38.5-percent from behind the arc. The Maccabees finished the night shooting an efficient 60-percent as a team and a red-hot 72.7-percent from three-point range.
Tuesday's loss drops Mount Saint Vincent back to the .500 mark at 4-4 overall and to 1-2 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will be off until December 19 when they take on Concordia (Wis.) in Daytona Beach, Fla. in their first game of the Daytona Beach Shootout. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
