Bronxville, NY- The College of Mount Saint Vincent's men's basketball team headed to nearby Sarah Lawerence to take on the Gryphons in Skyline Conference action on Tuesday night. The Dolphins were looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Yeshiva Saturday night. Bouncing back is just what they did in yet another overtime thriller. CMSV won by a score of 86-84. They are now 3-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Skyline Conference.
The first half was extremely competitive that resulted in the Dolphins trailing 32-28 at the break. CMSV outplayed Sarah Lawerence in every statistical category but the Gryphons managed to get to the free throw line 10 more times which proved to be the difference in the first half. CMSV received scoring out of all of their starters but were led by freshman Kalos Evans and sophomore Vinny Tavella, who both had six points. Tavella also had a monster half on the glass with nine rebounds.
For the start of the second half, CMSV came out sluggish and Sarah Lawerence capitalized, jumping out to a 45-37 advantage and forced coach James Mooney to take a timeout and regroup his guys. The timeout did the trick as the Dolphins caught fire, going on a huge 17-4 run to take a five point lead 54-49. The rest of the half was back and fourth affair which eventually led to the two teams going into overtime. Evans and Tavella continued their strong performances. Tavella finished regulation with 12 points and 13 boards and Evans finished with 16 points. The real story of the second half was junior guard Raiquis Harris, who had 15 points in the second half and was huge part of the 17-4 run.
Although the season is young, the Dolphins have already have overtime experience this year. Said experience paid off as the Dolphins found themselves down two late in overtime, 84-82. But senior Jason Barrera, who scored six of the teams 11 points, scored a layup to tie the game at 84 with 22 seconds on the clock. He then got a rebound off Harris' miss and finished the layup as time expired. Barrera finished with 19 points.
The Dolphins have a short break before they take the court again on December 8 at Merchant Marine Academy at 2 PM. The Dolphins will look to win their second straight Skyline Conference game.
