Patchogue, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team dropped a tough 69-67 decision on Saturday evening at St. Joseph's-L.I. Junior James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) led three Dolphins in double-figures with 18 points.
 
After falling behind in the opening two minutes, Mount Saint Vincent ripped of an 18-8 run over a seven minute stretch to build an 18-10 advantage. Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) contributed four points to the spurt, while Zuccaro capped things off with a three-point field goal with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half.
 
Zuccaro stretched the Mount Saint Vincent lead to 10 points at the 2:18 mark of the opening period with another three-point field goal, before Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) gave the Dolphins their largest lead of the day, 44-31, with four seconds left in the first half.
 
Fraser led the Dolphins with 10 points in the first period on 4-for-6 shooting with Zuccaro chipping in with eight. The Mount finished the opening 20 minutes shooting an even 50-percent from the floor and shot a red-hot 7-for-10 from behind the arc.
 
The Golden Eagles quickly sliced their deficit to three points coming out of halftime with a 9-2 run over the first 4:28 of the second stanza. Sean McCarthy led the way with five points for St. Joseph's.
 
The Dolphins would hang on to the lead until Brady Colucci converted a jumper to push the Golden Eagles in front for the first time since it was 2-0. Phil Calixte moved the St. Joseph's lead to six points with 4:44 left in regulation time.
 
Mount Saint Vincent responded with seven of the next eight points in the game to knot the score at 67-67 with 11 ticks left. Zuccaro sliced the six point disadvantage in half with a three-pointer and Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tied the score with a jumper.
 
With the score tied in the final 10 seconds, McCarthy rushed up the floor and converted a lay-in with two seconds left in the game to push the Golden Eagles in front by two. Cunningham missed a three-point field goal at the horn as St. Joseph's earned a split of season series.
 
The Golden Eagles shot better then 46-percent in the second 20 minutes and knocked down half of their six three-point field goals after the break. McCarthy led St. Joseph's with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Calixte finished up with 15 points, with Colucci adding 13 tallies. Keith Anderson led all players with 11 rebounds in addition to nine points.
 
Zuccaro scored in double-figures for the eighth time after going 7-for-20 from the floor and 3-for-5 from distance. He also chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.
 
Fraser rounded out the day with 12 points and a pair of blocks, while Johnson tallied 11 points and handed out three assists. Johnson also led all players in the game with three blocked shots.
 
After shooing 70-percent from three-point range in the first half, Mount Saint Vincent went just 1-for-7 from behind the arc after halftime. The Dolphins finished the game shooting 41.7-percent from the field.
 
Mount Saint Vincent stands at 4-9 overall and 2-4 in Skyline play after Saturday's result. The Dolphins will return to action on Wednesday night when they host Purchase. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m.