Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team dropped a hard fought Skyline Conference matchup to visiting Yeshiva on Saturday night by a score of 57-54. James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) led three Dolphins in double-figures and matched the game-high with 18 points.
 
The entire game was played inside a six point window on Saturday and featured six ties and eight lead changes. After falling behind 12-7 following a Dovie Hoffman three-pointer, Mount Saint Vincent scored six straight points, capped by a Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) tip-in, to take its only lead of the half, at 13-12, with 11:11 left in the first frame.
 
Following the Fraser conversion, neither team would score until Benjy Rotholtz made a pair of free-throws at the 8:48 mark to push the Maccabees back in front 14-13. Yeshiva would maintain the lead the remainder of the half and took a five point advantage with a Shlomo Weissberg lay-in with 2:47 left in the period.
 
Zuccaro would get the Dolphins to within three with a put back with seven seconds left and snapped a four minute scoring drought to reduce the halftime disadvantage to just three points, at 23-20.
 
Both teams shot under 40-percent in the opening period, but the Maccabees knocked down two more three-pointers then the Dolphins and outscored the Mount 4-1 from the free-throw line. The Dolphins finished the first half outscoring Yeshiva 16-6 in the paint.
 
The Dolphins came out of the intermission and got back-to-back conversions from Fraser and Zuccaro to pull in front 24-23 in the opening minute of the second stanza. Yeshiva responded with a Weissberg bucket to edge back in front and then used a 10-3 run capped by a Ritholtz jumper to take its largest lead of the game, 38-32, with 12:24 left in regulation.
 
The Dolphins answered the Maccabee run with a 10-3 spurt of their own finished off by a Zuccaro basket that gave the Mount a 42-41 advantage with 5:33 left in the half. Zuccaro had seven points over the run and Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) got things started with a three-pointer to slash the six point disadvantage in half.
 
Yeshiva took the lad back 20 seconds later on a pair of Gil Bash free-throws and a Hoffman triple pushed the Maccabees' lead out to 46-42 with 4:38 remaining in the contest.
 
Zuccaro got the Mount back to within one point on a three-point play with 3:21 left and Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would get the Dolphins to within two points with a second chance bucket with nine seconds left.
 
Bash went on to convert one of the two free-throws and the Maccabees converted seven down the stretch and did not allow a clean look from three at the buzzer to secure the league victory.
 
Yeshiva shot 55-percent overall in the second half and finished the game shooting at a 44.2-percent clip. The Maccabees went 5-for-10 from behind the arc and converted 14 free-throws.
 
Ritholtz matched Zuccaro with a game-high 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting overall and 2-for-3 shooting from distance. He went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and added three rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
Bash posted 15 points for the visitors and four rebounds and Hoffman added 12 tallies, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Weissberg led Yeshiva with seven rebounds and also chipped in with eight points.
 
Zuccaro finished the game 8-for-14 from the floor to go along with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Cunningham rounded out the game with 14 points on the strength of a 6-for-8 effort from the free-throw line and added six rebounds.
 
Caputo knocked down three triples for the Dolphins and finished 5-for-9 from the field on his way to 13 points. He also swiped a steal and collected a rebound for the Mount. Fraser led the Mount with nine of the team's 30 rebounds and contributed six points and a blocked shot.
 
Overall in the game, Mount Saint Vincent outscored Yeshiva in the paint 26-16, while the Maccabees finished with a three point edge in points off of turnovers.
 
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 5-13 overall on the season and to 3-8 overall in league play. The Dolphins will look to rebound on Monday night when they head to Old Westbury. Tip-off with the Panthers is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.