Riverdale, N.Y. – Behind a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds from Brandon Serrano (Hempstead, N.Y.), the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball squad opened the season with a hard fought 67-65 win over Centenary to open the 2013 CMSV Tip-Off Tournament. Serrano was one of two Dolphins to post double-figures in the season opening victory.

In a game that featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, the Dolphins were not able to build a lead larger than six points the entire night. The Mount would get out to its largest lead with just under seven minutes to play in regulation when Christian Giles (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) converted a lay-in to push the Dolphins in front 59-53.

The Dolphins struggled to pull away the whole game, equaling its largest lead of the first half in the final minute when Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) made a pair of free-throws to give the Dolphins a 32-38 lead heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Cyclones used a quick 9-2 spurt to move in front 37-34. Johnson would can a triple to tie the score for the ninth time of the night on the following possession and neither side would get in front by more than three points until a 5-0 Mount Saint Vincent run, keyed by a Kevin Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.) lay-in a two Johnson free-throws), got the Dolphins in front 53-48 with 10:45 left in the second half.

The Mount would extend to the game-high six point lead, before the Cyclones scored five straight points to get to within 59-58 with 5:13 to play. Back-to-back jumpers from Kahlil Shorter (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Serrano got the Dolphins back in front by five, but one last push from the visitors keyed by a Clayton Roker jumper got them back to within a point with just over a minute left.

Serrano would make a pair of buckets in the final two minutes to spread the Dolphins lead to three points and the Mount held Centenary without a point over the final 1:27 to hold on to the lead and advance to the championship round of the tournament.

Serrano finished the night 13-for-27 from the floor and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds to lead the Dolphins. He also added an assist and a block to the winning effort. Johnson joined Serrano in double-figures with 12 points and six rebounds.

Henry came off the bench for the Mount to produce eight points and six rebounds, including four offensive boards, while Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) hauled in six boards and added five points. Giles handed out six assists for the Mount in his collegiate debut.  

Roker paced Centenary with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with four assists and seven rebounds. Kyle Malavasi chipped in 16 points, with Djovan Beausejour adding nine tallies for the Cyclones.

For the game, Mount Saint Vincent shot 43.3-percent from the floor and held Centenary to 39.3-percent shooting. Centenary held the advantage in points off turnovers on the night 18-4 and second chance points 22-14.

With the win, Mount Saint Vincent stands at 1-0 overall on the season heading into Saturday's championship round. The Dolphins will take on Trinity, who downed St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 63-62, at 4:00 p.m.