Newburgh, N.Y. – After winning four straight to get to .500 in league play, the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team has now dropped back-to-back contests after a 98-73 loss at Mount Saint Mary. Junior Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the way for the Mount with a game-high 21 points.
 
After falling behind by 11 points in the first six minutes, Mount Saint Vincent put together a 16-7 stretch capped by a Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) bucket to cut its deficit to 20-18 with 9:35 remaining in the first half.
 
The home standing Knights would answer in a big way to end the half and used a 24-10 run over the final nine minutes to take a 44-28 lead into halftime. Mount Saint Mary shot 44.7-percent overall in the half and used 17 second chance points to carry the lead into the break.
 
Mount Saint Mary came out of halftime and scored 23 of the first 36 points of the second half, including a 12-3 run, to open a 67-41 lead with 12:46 left in the game. The Knights' lead would balloon to a game-high 30 points after a Carlos Valdez dunk with 9:25 remaining in the game, before easing to the final 25 point advantage.
 
The Knights shot a blistering 59.4-percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game converting 51.4-percent of its chances. The Knights also knocked down 13 triples on the night, including a 4-for-5 effort from Steve Phillips.
 
Mount Saint Mary had six players score in double-figures with Valdez leading the way with 16 points. He rounded out a double-double effort with a game-high 10 boards and also handed out seven assists and swiped four steals. Donte Howell finished the night with eight assists and 11 points.
 
Cunningham went 7-for-19 from the floor for the Dolphins and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line on his way to the game-high point total. He also grabbed seven rebounds for the Dolphins and handed out three assists.
 
Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) netted 15 points after knocking down five three-pointers. Over the past two games Caputo has made 10 three pointers and is shooting 66.7-percent from behind the arc.
 
Senior Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) led the Dolphins with four assists in the game and also chipped in with five points and four rebounds. D'Andre McPhatter (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded eight points on the night and hauled in six boards for the Mount.
 
For the game, Mount Saint Vincent shot 38.8-percent from the floor and went 7-for-21 from behind the arc. The Dolphins did have a strong night from the free-throw line after shooting 73.7-percent.
 
Overall in the game, Mount Saint Mary outscored the Dolphins 40-26 in the paint and 10-2 on the fast break. The Knights also had big advantages in second chance points at 23-15 and points off of turnovers at 25-9.
 
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 8-13 overall on the season and to 6-8 in league play. The Dolphins will look to get back on track on Thursday when they play host to Yeshiva. Tip-off with the Maccabees is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.