Brooklyn, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team picked up its third straight win and its fourth in the last five games with a 63-51 road victory over NYU-POLY on Saturday. Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) and Stephen Oliver (Brooklyn, N.Y.) combined for 32 points off the bench for the Dolphins.
Mount Saint Vincent would jump out to an early lead after a quick 4-0 run and would not trail in the first 20 minutes. After back-to-back Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) buckets just over seven minutes into the half, the Mount gained its largest lead of the half at 14-6.
Following the second Cunningham bucket, the Blue Jays used an 11-3 run to tie the score at 17-17 after a Jason Samuels jumper with 7:22 to play before halftime. The Dolphins quickly regained the lead after a Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) triple and used a Chris Bonaventura (Staten Island, N.Y.) bucket and a Yeuri Santos (New York, N.Y.) free-throw to close out a 6-0 run and take a 23-17 advantage at the 3:36 mark of the period.
The Blue Jays answered with a 6-0 run over the final 3:36 of the half to knot the score at 23-23 heading into the intermission. The Dolphins shot just 27.6-percent in the first half, but canned three triples to earn the tie at the half. Bonaventura led the Dolphins with seven points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Blue Jays opened the second half on a 12-5 run to pull in front by their largest mark of the game, at 35-28, after an Alex Westphal bucket at the 12:40 mark of the period. After falling behind by seven, the Dolphins used a 17-3 run started by an Oliver three and capped by Gauvard three-point play to pull in front 45-38 with 7:50 to play in regulation.
The Dolphins would not trail again in the game and spread the lead out to double-figures after another Oliver triple with 2:37 to play and gained their largest lead of the afternoon following three Caputo free-throws in the final 42 seconds.
Mount Saint Vincent struggled from the field on the day and shot just 37.3-percent from the floor. The Mount did go 7-for-17 from three-point range on the day, but again had trouble from the free-throw line after converting 52.2-percent of its chances from the stripe.
Gauvard led the team off the bench with 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting and also hauled in seven rebounds. Oliver netted 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc and also chipped in with a pair of rebounds.
Caputo rounded out the day with a team-high four assists to go along with six points and Kevin Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.) contributed a career and game-high five steals.
The Blue Jays had three players score in double-figures with Evan Azzam and Brendon Henry each recording 12 points. Azzam posted a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Westphal posted five blocked shots.
The Mount Saint Vincent defense had a strong day and forced 30 NYU-POLY turnovers leading to a important 36-6 advantage in points off of miscues. The Dolphins bench also continued to play a strong role, scoring 38 of the team's 63 points.
The win gives Mount Saint Vincent its longest winning streak of the season and moves it to 7-11 overall on the year and to 5-6 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will look to make it four in a row and move to the .500 mark in league play on Tuesday when they play host to Old Westbury. Tip-off at the Sharp Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.