Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team dropped an important Skyline Conference decision on Saturday afternoon at the horn, falling to visiting St. Joseph's-L.I. by a score of 50-49 on a last second tip-in. Senior Brandon Serrano (Hempstead, N.Y.) led the Dolphins with 18 points on Senior Day.
 
After a sluggish start, Mount Saint Vincent found itself down by seven points with just under eight minutes left in the first half. Cody Lohsen converted a lay-up at the 7:47 mark of the first period to give the Golden Eagles their largest advantage of the game at 17-10.
 
Mount Saint Vincent would quickly erase the disadvantage and tied the score at 17-17 following back-to-back three-pointers from Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) and a free-throw from Kevin Henry.
 
Wade Richardson would give the visitors a three-point lead back with a triple with 4:54 left in the half, before Johnson canned his third triple of the half to tie things up again at 20-20 heading into halftime.
 
Both team struggled from the floor in the first half, with Mount Saint Vincent shooting just shy of 32-percent before the break. St. Joseph's shot under 27-percent in the first 20 minutes and without a field-goal after the Richardson three-pointer with just under five minutes to play in the first half.
 
Johnson continued his hot shooting early in the second half, knocking down his fourth three-pointer of the game to break at 22-22 tie with 18:52 left in regulation. St. Joseph's would regain the lead with the next four points to retake a one point lead, before the Dolphins strung together a 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the game.
 
 
Trailing 27-25 with 17:25 left to play, the Dolphins scored 10 of the next 12 points over a span of 5:20 to pull in front 35-29 with 12:05 left in regulation time. Serrano scored seven of the Mount's 10 points in the run and the Mount Saint Vincent defense held St. Joseph's to a 1-for-8 effort from the field over the run.
 
Mount Saint Vincent would hold on to the lead and get it back to as many as five points on a Serrano conversion with 6:47 left in the game, before the Dolphins went without a field-goal until a Kahlil Shorter (Staten Island, N.Y.) three-pointer in the final minute tied the score at 48-48. Between the two field goals the Dolphins were outscored 11-3.
 
After falling behind by five points with 2:30 to play the Dolphins battled back to get it tied on the Shorter three-pointer and later moved in front by a point in the final five seconds after Johnson split a pair of free-throws. Following the make from Johnson to get the Dolphins in front 49-48, Nick Gallina got a shot to the rim that was tipped home by Darryl Charles at the horn to secure the win for the visitors.
 
Charles finished the game 7-for-27 from the floor in the game, but led the team with 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four steals. Andy Laurent totaled 16 points for the Golden Eagles and six boards.
 
Serrano closed out the game 6-for-16 from the floor and posted game-highs in rebounds with 12 and blocked shots with five. Johnson finished with 16 points and hit five of the team's seven three-pointers in the game, going 5-for-8 from behind the arc.
 
The Dolphins finished with just three players with more than one field goal in the game and rounded out the game 16-for-46 from the floor. The Mount also struggled from the free-throw line, misfiring on eight of its 18 attempts in the game.
 
Mount Saint Vincent held St. Joseph's to under 30-percent shooting in the game, but the Dolphins were outscored by six points in the paint and seven points in second chance opportunities.
 
With Saturday's loss Mount Saint Vincent stands at 7-15 overall on the season and at 5-10 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will look to rebound on Monday night when they welcome Farmingdale State to the Peter Jay Sharp Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

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