Staten Island, NY --- Following a three-week break for final exams and the holidays, the Brooklyn College Men's Basketball was back in action on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs opened the New Year with a 78-74 loss at the hands of the Dolphins of the College of Staten Island at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center in City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) action.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 10-2 overall on the season and 4-1 in the CUNYAC. The defeat also snaps BC's 10-game winning streak. The Dolphins improve to 6-4 overall on the year and 3-1 in conference play with today's victory. CSI has also now won nine straight over Brooklyn.

The visitors had four starters score in double figures, led by senior guard Jai Kellman's team-high 22 points. Junior guard/forward Egzon Gjonbalaj filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals, while senior center Valon Djombalic (13 points/16 rebounds) and junior forward Lorenzo Williams (12 points/10 rebounds) each contributed with a double-double. Senior guard Jamel Gist finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

CSI's Will Fonseca led the home team to victory with 24 points and 18 rebounds, both game-highs, to finish the game with a double-double. Thomas Delahanty added 18 points, while Edin Bracic chipped in with 13 points. Frank Schettino dished out nine assists, to go with nine points.

The first half featured a back-and-forth affair with four ties and seven lead changes. The Dolphins would begin the contest scoring the first four points of the game and would eventually take their largest lead of the half by six, 29-23, on a three-pointer from Vincent Dacunto at the 8:47 mark of the opening half. The Bulldogs would answer with a 15-2 run to take their largest lead of the game by seven, 38-31, with 4:01 remaining before the halftime break.

CSI would again retake the lead scoring eight straight to go up, 39-38, with 1:42 left in the first half; however, the Bulldogs would take the halftime edge, 42-39, as the visitors scored the final four points in the period.

The second half would see the teams continue to battle it out with a game of runs, as both sides combined for three ties and three lead changes. Following a tip-in from Gjonbalaj that put the Bulldogs ahead by five, 55-50, their largest lead of the second half, with 15:49 remaining in the game; the Dolphins would answer with a 13-0 run to take an eight-point advantage, 63-55, with 10:30 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs would not go down lightly; however, as BC used a 10-0 run to retake the lead, 65-63, at the 7:07 mark. The lead would not last long however, as the Dolphins would have one more run in them to eventually put the game out of reach, as the home team used an 11-1 spurt to once again go up by eight, 74-66, with just 2:13 remaining.

BC would be unable to recover from its latest scoring drought, as the Dolphins would never relinquish its lead the rest of the game, en route to taking home a hard-fought, 78-74, win.

For the game, Brooklyn shot 35.4% (29-for-82) from the field, including 30.8% (8-for-26) from three. The Bulldogs shot just 53.3% (8-for-15) from the line.

CSI shot 46.4% (32-for-69) from the field and 35.7% (5-for-14) from beyond the arc. The Dolphins also struggled from the charity stripe shooting just 39.1% (9-for-23) from the line.

BC lost the game despite winning the battle of the glass, 59-40, which led to a 22-8 advantage in second chance points for the visitors.

Turnovers were the key to CSI's win, as the Dolphins forced the Bulldogs into 18 turnovers, which led to 25 points off of turnovers for the home team.

Brooklyn will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, January 6th, as the Bulldogs will host reigning CUNYAC champion York College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 pm at the West Quad Center.