Riverdale, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's men's basketball team returned to action for the final game of 2019 when they played host to Rutgers-Newark on New Year's Eve. The Dolphins looked to avenge the Scarlett Raiders, who entered the contest winners of all three previous head to head matchups. Unfortunately for CMSV, they'll have to wait another year for a win against them as they dropped the contest by the score of 74-58.

The first 10 minutes of the first half saw the Dolphins and Scarlett Raiders battle back and forth, with the score staying within one possession over that span. CMSV took their first lead at the 14:37 mark when Raiquis Harris hit a three pointer off an assist from Makai Johnson after tremendous ball movement by the Dolphins. Rutgers-Newark regained the lead, but the Dolphins kept it close after Vinny Tavella and Dorian Robinson knocked down back-to-back threes in consecutive possessions. 

From there, Rutgers-Newark turned on the jets on offense, scoring 14 straight points over a six minute span, ballooning their lead to 15. A Tavella layup got the Dolphins out of their drought, bringing the score to 37-26 with three minutes to play. Kalos Evans converted a three point attempt on the next offensive play off a strong pass from Kelvin Turner-Harris to cut Rutgers-Newark's lead to single digits. The Scarlett Raiders got on the board two more times before time expired, making it 42-29 at the half. 

The Dolphins came into the second half looking like a brand new team, as they caused four straight turnovers to open the half which led to an 8-0 run, highlighted by and-ones from Tavella and Harris, was well as a basket from Johnson. The home team held strong on the defensive end as they didn't allow a basket until 14:49 remaining in the game while simultaneously cutting Rutgers-Newark's lead to three. Similar to the first half, the Scarlett Raiders excelled on the offensive end after the slow start, resulting in the loss. 

The sophomore Evans paced the Dolphins in both points and rebounds, registering 15 and nine on the afternoon. Harris tied Evans for the team lead in points while Makai Johnson led the team in assists (four). Tavella, Turner-Harris and Dorian Robinson came off the bench and combined for 18 points. 

The Dolphins will look ahead to one more tuneup against Wesleyan on January 4 before entering conference play full tilt. The road matchup is scheduled for a 3:00 PM tip-off.