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Mount Saint Vincent |
The Golden Eagles led wire-to-wire on Saturday and quickly opened an 11 point lead after scoring 14 of the first 17 points of the contest. St. Joseph’s would jump out to a 17 point advantage after a Chris Jimenez triple, before the Mount cut into the lead with an 11-2 run capped by a Pat Panetta (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) basket to pull the Mount to within 38-30 with just over six minutes to play in the period.
The Dolphins’ deficit would quickly get back to double-figures after a Jimenez bucket with 5:33 to play in the first half and it would balloon to 18 points after a Steven Valazquez triple with 52 ticks left before the break. The Golden Eagles closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 55-39 lead to the locker room.
A trio of St. Joseph’s players were in double-figures after 20 minutes of action with Shahab Syed leading the way with 14 points. The Golden Eagles shot a red hot 56.8-percent from the floor in the half and went 5-for-9 from behind the arc.
The Dolphins came out in the second half and quickly got to within seven points after a 14-5 spurt over the first four and a half minutes. Gauvard scored 12 of the 14 points in the run with rookie Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) adding the other bucket.
Following the run to open the half Mount Saint Vincent went over two minutes without a field goal and St. Joseph’s took advantage with seven straight points to push their lead to 67-53 with just over 13 minutes left in the contest.
The Dolphins would be able to get their deficit to nine points on two occasions over the final seven minutes, but St. Joseph’s used a 12-2 run over three-plus minutes to open a game-high 19 point lead. The Golden Eagles knocked in four of their five free-throws over the final 1:49 to pick up the final 13 point edge.
Shahab finished the night with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Mike Crisci came off the bench to post a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Shahab also handed out a game-high six assists.
Gauvard finished the afternoon for the Dolphins 9-for-20 from the floor and also secured eight rebounds. Dino Johnson (Amsterdam, N.Y.) chipped in with 15 points and three steals.
The Dolphins finished the afternoon shooting 42-percent from the floor, but struggled from long distance, going just 6-for-28 from behind the arc. St. Joseph’s converted just under 47-peecent of the time from the floor and went 8-for-17 long distance.
The loss is the Mount’s eighth in its last nine contests and drops it to 7-12 overall and to 4-11 in league play. The Dolphins will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday when they host Sage. The game will be played on campus at Hayes Gymnasium and will tip-off at 7:00 p.m.
