Riverdale, N.Y. – After starting the season 0-5 at home, the College of Mount Saint Vincent won its sixth straight at the Peter Jay Sharp Center on Saturday with a hard fought 67-58 win over NYU-POLY on Senior Day. Junior Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the Mount with 19 points, while Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) led the team with 12 rebounds.
Although the Dolphins led for much of the afternoon, they could not expand a lead into double-figures until an 8-0 run in the final 3:08 sent the Mount to the locker room with their largest lead of the day at 33-22.
The Dolphins used 14 points off of 14 NYU-POLY turnovers in the opening 20 minutes to pull in front at the intermission. The Dolphins also outscored the visitors 11-0 on the fast break in the first stanza.
The Mount had seven different players score in the first half and was led by eight tallies from Cunningham. The Dolphins finished the period shooting 38.9-percent from the field, but just 3-for-10 from the free-throw line.
NYU-POLY started the second half on an 11-1 run and quickly sliced the Mount Saint Vincent lead to 34-33 following a Brendon Henry bucket in the paint with 15:59 to play. Jethro Auguste contributed to the run with a three-pointer.
The Dolphins would hang onto the advantage in the game until the 7:37 mark of the second half when a pair of Justin Manalo free-throws capped a 10-1 spurt and pushed the Blue Jays in front 48-45.
Mount Saint Vincent would battle back to tie the score at 48-48 after a Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) free-throw before the two teams traded the lead four times over the next three minutes.
Junior Michael Knott (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) would put the Mount in front for good on the day with just his second three-pointer of the season at the 2:56 mark. With the Dolphins down by one he pulled up on the right wing to get the Dolphins in front 59-57.
After an Evan Azzam free-throw for the Blue Jays back to within a point, the Dolphins knocked down six free-throws in the final minute to hold off the visitors in the regular season finale.
The Dolphins struggled shooting on Saturday after converting 34.4-percent from the floor and 27.8-percent from behind the arc. The Mount also continued its season long struggle from the free-throw line after going 20-for-36 from the stripe.
Cunningham finished the day 6-for-16 from the floor and matched his career-high with seven assists. He also posted a pair of rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot for the Dolphins.
Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) totaled 13 points and knocked down four of the team's five three-pointers. He also picked up four rebounds and a pair of steals. Waite chipped in 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds and swiped a game-high seven steals.
NYU-POLY was led by Azzam who scored 15 points and Henry who totaled 14. Auguste contributed 10 points and Alex Westphal grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and blocked four shots.
Mount Saint Vincent held NYU-POLY to 38.5-percent shooting and turned 25 Blue Jay turnovers into 28 points. The Dolphins also finished the game with a 13-2 edge in fast break points.
With the win, Mount Saint Vincent stands at 11-14 overall on the season and 9-9 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will open play in the league tournament on Tuesday night when they travel to third seeded Mount Saint Mary. Tip-off with the Knights is slated for 7:00 p.m.