Riverdale, N.Y. – Senior Jon Moore (Cleveland, Ohio) poured in a career-high 22 points and classmate Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) recorded his second straight double-double, but the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team was edged by visiting St. Joseph's-L.I. by a score of 78-75 on Thursday night. It is the Mount's second straight defeat and third in four contests to open the season.
The Dolphins got out of the gates quickly in the league opener after a Moore triple pushed them in front 8-2 just three minutes into the tilt. The lead would get to a game-high eight points for the Mount with 13:14 left in the half when Waite converted a jumper in the paint to make it 15-7.
From there, Mount Saint Vincent would not score another point until Waite converted a pair of free-throws with 7:29 left before the half. Over that stretch the Golden Eagles went on a 14-0 run to jump in front 21-15.
The Dolphins clawed their way back into the contest after falling behind by as many as seven in the first half following a pair of Moore three-pointers in the final two minutes of action. Trailing by a pair in the closing seconds, junior Yeuri Santos (New York, N.Y.) beat the buzzer on a second chance opportunity to tie the score at 36-36 heading into the break.
St. Joseph's was held without a three-point field goal in the first half, but went 18-for-21 from the free-throw line for half of their total output. The Mount knocked down four triples before the half, all from Moore, and converted 14 points off of 12 Golden Eagle turnovers.
The two teams would trade baskets over the first three minutes of the second half, until St. Joseph's matched its largest lead of the game after a quick 7-0 run pushed it in front 49-42 with just under 16 minutes left in regulation time.
The Dolphins would match that with a 7-0 spurt of their own to knot the score at 49-49, but would not be able to wrestle the lead away from the Golden Eagles. The largest lead for the visitors would be seven points on the night, matched again with just eight minutes left on an Olivier Laurent free-throw.
Mount Saint Vincent refused to go away in the tilt and got the scored tied for the 10th time in the game with 4:10 remaining after a Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) free-throw. The visitors would again pull out in front by five with 2:06 remaining before a Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) triple off a steal tied the game at 75-75 with 28 ticks left to play.
Chris Jimenez would knock in a pair of free-throws for St. Joseph's with 25 seconds to play, before Moore had a three pointer rim out in the closing seconds. A free-throw from Laurent pushed the Golden Eagles in front by the final three point advantage.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the game shooting 35.5-percent from the floor, but knocked down nine three-pointers on the night. The Dolphins went 12-for-20 from the free-throw line and converted 22 second chance points.
The Golden Eagles were held to just 2-for-17 shooting from behind the arc and finished the night converting 41.4-percent of their field goal chances. St. Joseph's finished the night 28-for-33 from the charity stripe.
Moore was one of four Dolphins in double-figures after shooting 8-for-23 from the floor overall and 6-for-18 from three-point range. He also totaled five rebounds, handed out an assist and recorded a steal.
Waite continued his steady play for the Mount with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. It is his second straight double-double and fifth for his career. Cody Gauvard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) finished with 11 points and nine boards, while Cunningham totaled 10 points and led the team with three assists.
St. Joseph's placed six in double-figures with Cody Lohsen leading the way with 14 off the bench. Trey Black finished the night with 11 points and 10 boards and also led the team with three assists. Steve Velazquez and Lohsen each blocked a pair of shots for St. Joseph's.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 1-3 overall on the season and to 0-1 in league play. The Dolphins will look to even things in the conference when they travel to Yeshiva on Saturday night. Tip-off with the Maccabees is set for 8:30 p.m.