Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team ran its season-high winning streak to four games and evened its league record on Tuesday with an impressive 76-54 win over Old Westbury. Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) knocked down a career-high four three-pointers on his way to a game-high 27 points.
The Dolphins trailed only briefly on Tuesday and after falling behind 2-0 they put together and 18-6 run to pull in front 18-8. Cunningham sparked the run with back-to-back three-pointers.
Mount Saint Vincent used another big run to close the first half and head to the locker room leading by 19 points. The Dolphins ran off 15 of the final 20 points of the half and used a triple from Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 1:00 left before the break to pull in front by a half-high 21 points.
The Mount shot a red-hot 57.1-percent from the floor in the first half and went 5-for-9 from behind the arc to build the lead. Cunningham led all players at the break with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting overall.
The defense from the Mount also played a key role in the halftime lead. Old Westbury was held to 9-for-31 shooting and went 1-for-7 from behind the arc. The Panthers also turned the ball over 10 times, leading to eight Mount Saint Vincent points.
The Dolphins wasted little time in the second half expanding the lead, using a 12-4 spurt to open a 27 point lead with 16:09 left in regulation time. The Mount Saint Vincent lead would fall under 20 points just once the rest of the night and the Dolphins blew open a game-high 31 point advantage after a Yeuri Santos (New York, N.Y.) free-throw with 8:40 left in the game.
The Mount struggled from the field in the second half, but still shot 44.6-percent overall in the game. Mount Saint Vincent knocked down six threes in the game and also shot 71.4-percent from the free-throw line. The mark from the charity stripe proved to be a season-high for the Dolphins.
Cunningham led the Dolphins in scoring for the fifth time this season after going 9-for-15 from the floor overall and 4-for-6 from behind the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds for the Dolphins and recorded an assist.
Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) came off the bench to net 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting. He hauled in a pair of rebounds, blocked a shot and posted a pair of steals. Chris Bonaventura (Staten Island, N.Y.) rounded out a trio in double-figures with 12 points on the strength of a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line.
Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill) led all players in the game with 12 rebounds for the Mount and also chipped in four points. Caputo finished the evening with five assists, missing his career-mark by just one.
Mount Saint Vincent held Old Westbury's Tavon McNair to just seven points and seven rebounds on Tuesday. McNair entered the game third in the league in scoring at 18.9 points and second in rebounding at 11.0. He shot 2-for-10 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times.
Overall the Panthers shot just 32.4-percent and just 1-for-12 from three-point range. Rashawn McCarthy led Old Westbury with 11 points.
The win improves Mount Saint Vincent to 8-11 overall on the season and evens its league mark at 6-6. The Dolphins will look for their fifth straight win on the road when they head to Farmingdale Stat on Saturday. Tip-off with the Rams is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.