Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team overcame a 17 point second half deficit on Wednesday to rally past Skyline Conference rival Yeshiva 54-50. Freshman Ammad Alkhulaidi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) led the Dolphins with 13 points apiece and the Dolphins posted their 16th win of the season, the most under head coach Brian Nigro '00.
Mount Saint Vincent trailed early on Wednesday, falling behind 19-9 on a Benjy Ritholtz three-pointer midway through the first half. Yeshiva would move in front 25-12 on a Yisrael Feld conversion with 5:26 left before the break before carrying a 28-19 lead into the intermission.
The Dolphins were held to a season worst 19 points in the opening stanza after shooting 25.9-percent in the first half. The Maccabees converted at a 48-percent clip before halftime with Ritholtz leading all scorers at the break with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting overall and a 2-for-3 effort from behind the arc.
Coming out of halftime, Yeshiva spread its lead to a game-high 17 points after two three-pointers from Benjamin Oirech pushed the visitors in front 38-21 with just under 17 minutes to play in regulation time. The Yeshiva lead would remain in double-figures until an Alkhulaidi lay-in cut the Mount's deficit to 42-33 with 12:39 left in the second half.
The Alkhulaidi bucket was part of a 22-6 run by the Mount over 9:19 in the second half that brought the Dolphins to within a point after a Johnson three-point field goal with 7:33 left in the half. The Mount went 8-for-15 from the floor over the run and forced nine Yeshiva turnovers.
The Maccabees would spread their lead back to three points following two free-throws from Shelby Rosenberg with 5:09 left and would move in front 48-45 on a lay-in from Rosenberg with 3:53 left before the Mount scored nine of the final 11 points of the game to stun Yeshiva.
Following the Rosenberg lay-in, Mount Saint Vincent ripped off the next nine straight points, allowing just an Oirech layup with two seconds left over the final 3:53 of regulation. Johnson gave the Dolphins their first lead of the game with a jumper at the 2:08 mark that pushed the Mount in front 50-48. Over the final two minutes, the Mount got a layup from Alkhulaidi and a pair of free-throws from Madison Martinez (Atlanta, Ga.) to secure the victory.
The Dolphins forced 16 Yeshiva turnovers after halftime and converted those into 17-2 advantage in points off of miscues in the second half. Alkhulaidi scored 11 of his 13 points after the break and the Mount Saint Vincent defense held Ritholtz to just two points on 1-for-3 shooting after halftime.
Alkhulaidi rounded out the game 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and three steals. Johnson knocked down three triples in the game and swiped a team-high four steals.
Martinez and James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) each scored seven points in the victory for the Dolphins, with Zuccaro securing a team-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.
The Dolphins shot 33.3-percent overall in the game, knocking down five three-point field goals and outscoring the Maccabees 11-5 at the free-throw line. The Dolphins closed the game with 26 points off of 25 Yeshiva turnovers.
Wednesday's win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 16-6 overall and 12-3 in league play, giving the program the most wins in a season under Nigro. Next up for the Dolphins is a trip to Patchogue, N.Y. to take on St. Joseph's-L.I. on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.