Brooklyn, N.Y. – Junior Omonya Onwe (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 20 points and senior captain Dino Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) added 11 as the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team posted a 96-59 win over NYU-POLY on Monday night. The win is the Mount's fourth straight to open the season.
The Blue Jays came out on Monday night and opened a double-figure lead after a John Martin triple with 11:35 left in the opening frame. NYU-POLY would open its largest lead of the tilt with 9:22 left in the half when Eric Southworth buried a jumper to push the home squad in front 25-11.
From that point the Dolphins scored 25 of the final 34 points of the opening stanza to carry a hard fought 36-34 lead into the locker room. After the Dolphins tied the score twice in the final two minutes, once on a Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) triple and another time on a Johnson bucket, junior Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) gave the Mount the lead for good with a jumper with just under a minute left before the break.
Mount Saint Vincent shot just 27.7-percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, with Johnson leading the way with nine of his 11 points. The Blue Jays finished up the opening period shooting just under 43-percent as Martin led them with 11 points.
In the second half, the Dolphins came out firing and put up 60 points to earn the victory going away. After struggling to convert in the opening half, Mount Saint Vincent shot better then 51-percent in the second half and made four of the five triples that it attempted.
A pair of Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) free-throws at 17:35 of the second half pushed the Mount lead to double-figures and the advantage did not fall below 11 the remainder of the contest. Onwe finished the half with 16 of his 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting overall.
Overall, Mount Saint Vincent shot just 38.6-percent from the floor on the night, but converted seven three pointers and went 21-for-29 from the free-throw line. Onwe finished up 9-for-15 overall with five rebounds and three steals. Johnson added a team-high in assists with three and steals with six to his 11 points. The six steals also matches a career-high.
Gauvrad was held under double-figures in scoring for the first time this season with seven points, but pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Alvin Pegues (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added eight points, five steals and four rebounds.
Mount Saint Vincent scored better then 90 points for the third straight game on Monday and the Dolphins pressure defense forced 37 NYU-POLY turnovers, which turned into 44 points. Mount Saint Vincent also secured 22 offensive rebounds, leading to 28 second chance points.
Jason Bucker led the Blue Jays with 14 points and nine rebounds, as NYU-POLY finished the game shooting just 34-percent overall. The Blue Jays did hold a 53-48 advantage on the glass overall.
he win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 4-0 overall on the season and to 1-0 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will look to extend their winning streak in their home opener on November 30 against Mount Saint Mary. Tip-off at the Peter Jay Sharp Center is slated for 7:00 p.m.