Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – College of Mount Saint Vincent junior Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) matched his career-high with 30 points and senior Cody Gauvard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) added 21, but it was not enough as the Dolphins were edged by Keene State by a score of 106-99 on Sunday afternoon.
The Dolphins got off to another strong start on Sunday and jumped out by 12 points after a Cunningham score with 11:36 to play in the first period. The Mount would match its game-high lead later in the period when Gauvard drained a three-pointer with 8:22 to play in the intermission and gave the Dolphins a 35-23 lead.
Trailing by 12, Keene State put together a 15-2 run capped by a Derek D'Amours fast break basket to push the Owls in front 38-37. Keene State would push its lead out to five points before the Dolphins rebounded to score nine of the final 13 points of the half to head to the break tied 53-53 after Cunningham beat the halftime buzzer.
Cunningham had a strong half for the Mount after shooting 8-for-12 from the floor and scoring 20 of his 30 points. The Dolphins shot an even 50-percent from the field before the break and went 5-for-9 from behind the arc.
Mount Saint Vincent would come out of the half and put together a 12-6 spurt to open a six point lead after a Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) three-point play three and a half minutes into the period. The Dolphins would match the six point advantage, their largest of the half, at the 15:22 mark after a Waite triple put them in front 70-64.
Behind by six, the Owls ran off seven straight points to take the lead before expanding the advantage to six after a pair of Ollie Hunter free-throws with 6:41 left to play. The Mount would quickly run off a 9-2 run to regain the advantage with help from four points from Waite and a triple from Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) to grab a slim 91-90 lead with just under four minutes to go.
After the Mount Saint Vincent run to pull back in front, Keene State would respond with five straight points from Ryan Martin, including a key three-pointer, to take the lead for good. The lead would swell to a game-high nine points after an Adrian Gonzalez dunk with just over a minute left and the Owls would not allow the Dolphins closer then seven points the rest of the way.
The Owls shot just over 57-percent from the floor in the second half and went 17-for-21 from the free-throw line after halftime, including 7-for-9 in the final 1:30 of regulation. Martin led Keene State with 26 points after going 7-for-9 overall, 6-for-6 from behind the arc and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Eric Fazio added 23 points and D'Amours netted 19 and led the team with five assists.
Cunningham scored 30 points in a game for the second time this season, with the last coming on December 3 at Yeshiva. He was 11-for-23 from the floor overall and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line on Sunday. He also led the team with five assists and played all 40 minutes of the contest.
Gauvard also had a strong day for the Mount after scoring a season-high 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting overall and 9-for-14 shooting from the charity stripe. Waite chipped in with 18 points for the Dolphins and a team-high seven rebounds, while Caputo finished with 11 after knocking down three triples to go along with a pair of steals.
Overall in the game, Mount Saint Vincent shot 49.3-percent from the field and matched its season-high with nine three-point field goals made. The marks for points scored and points allowed were also season-highs.
Both teams took advantage of turnovers in the game, with the Owls scoring 27 points off of 18 Mount Saint Vincent miscues and the Mount turning 19 Keene State turnovers into 21 points. Tightly contested throughout, the tilt featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 3-7 overall on the season heading into the break. The Dolphins will look to get the New Year started on the right track on January 7 when they host league rival Farmingdale State. Tip-off at the Sharp Center is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.