Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball squad advanced to the semifinal round of the Skyline Conference Tournament on Tuesday night with a 61-45 quarterfinal win over two-time defending champion Purchase. Freshman Ammad Alkhulaidi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a game-high 19 points and classmate Mike Mulligan (Pearl River, N.Y.) finished with a career-high 12 points.
Mount Saint Vincent never trailed in the game and jumped out to an 8-0 lead on the strength of back-to-back three-point field goals from James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Alkhulaidi. The Dolphins held Purchase scoreless for the first 3:21 of the contest, before spreading its lead to 17-7 on a Mulligan triple with 11:54 left before halftime.
The Mulligan triple was part of 15-4 run covering nearly seven minutes that saw the Dolphins take a 23-7 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period. The Mount converted on half of its 12 field goal attempts over the run, knocking in three triples.
The Dolphins held Purchase to just two field goals over the final 9:23 of the first half and took a 26-13 lead into the intermission. The Mount held Purchase to 25-percent shooting and knocked in five of its 11 three-point attempts before the break. Alkhulaidi finished the half with nine points and six rebounds.
Coming out of halftime Purchase quickly cut the Mount Saint Vincent advantage to nine points following a pair of Kendall Felix conversions inside the first two minutes of the second half. The Mount quickly responded with the next five points, including a triple from Mulligan, to push its lead back to 31-17 with 17:35 left to play.
Following the Mulligan three-pointer, Mount Saint Vincent maintained a double-figure lead in the game and opened a game-high 23 point lead on another Mulligan trey at the midway point of the second half. The Dolphins would match the 23 point lead three times the remainder of the day before taking the final 16 point decision.
Mount Saint Vincent shot an efficient 60-percent from the floor in the second half and went 4-for-8 from behind the arc. Alkhulaidi went 5-for-6 from the floor in the second stanza and was the only player in the game to score in double-figures after halftime, netting 10 of his game-high 19 points.
Alkhulaidi scored in double-figures for the 14th time this season and hauled in eight rebounds. He closed out the game with four assists, a block and a steal. Zuccaro scored 14 points for the Dolphins and equaled the team-high with eight rebounds.
Mulligan scored in double-figures for the second straight game, going 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. He hauled in seven rebounds and closed a strong all-around game with a game-high five assists. Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) chipped in with eight points and Jesse Regina (Staten Island, N.Y.) contributed six points and three assists.
Purchase was led by 10 points from Michael Pelham and received a game-high nine rebounds from Justin Person.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the game shooting 46.3-percent from the field and went 9-for-19 from bonus distance. The Mount outrebounded Purchase 40-24, including 13-4 on the offensive glass. The Dolphins assisted on 16 of their 25 makes in the contest with four player showing at least three assists in the game.
With Tuesday's victory, Mount Saint Vincent moves to 18-8 overall on the season and advances to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the first time under head coach Brian Nigro '00. The Dolphins will travel to second seeded St. Joseph's-L.I. on Thursday. Tip-off with the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Game Notes: The Dolphins move to 1-3 all-time under Nigro in the Skyline Conference Tournament…The Dolphins went 0-2 against St. Joseph's in the regular season…St. Joseph's was the only league opponent the Dolphins did not beat at least once during the regular season.