Sophomore small forward James Mooney (Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) scored 24 points and junior point guard Chris Renna (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) accumulated 11 assists and 12 points to lead the Dolphins to their first post season win since 2001 over the Privateers of SUNY-Maritime 83-80 in the first round of the Skyline Conference Tournament Monday night.
Mooney scored 14 in the first half, which also equaled the lead the Dolphins held over Maritime at the end of the first half. Then, it seemed as if the Dolphins had taken control of the game, but Maritime began to battle back and took a two point lead with 3:35 left on the clock. Junior guard Lionel Watlington (Amityville, NY) was the leading scorer for Maritime with 23 points, however he missed most of the second half because of foul trouble. The Privateer run was engineered by freshman guard Frantz Dunell who hit some key baskets including the jumper that tied things up; he finished the game with 22 points.
Then after a sequence that saw a three from junior forward Dan Bailey (Mineola, NY/Mineola), an amazing fast break lay-up by Mooney, and a huge put back by freshman center Luigi Nikci (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) the Dolphins took a 80-75 lead with 44 seconds left. Going to the line with a 81-77 lead, sophomore guard Charles Hernandez (Bronx, NY/Msgr. Scanlon) closed things out sinking both free throws, his only two points of the entire game. Nikci came up huge tonight finishing with 11 points and a team high of seven rebounds.
The Dolphins will now travel north tomorrow to take on the Valiant’s of Manhattanville for a 7 pm game in the second round of the Skyline Tournament.
-MSV-
Newspaper Box Score SUNY-Maritime vs Mount Saint Vincent 02/23/04 7pm at Riverdale, NY At Riverdale, NY MOUNT SAINT VINCENT 83, SUNY-MARITIME 80 SUNY-MARITIME Lionel Watlington 11-17 1-2 23; Frantz Dunel 7-8 5-11 22; Marc Lashley 5-11 2-2 13; Gerald Cullen 4-9 2-3 10; Jimmy Berkeybile 2-9 0-0 5; Byrom Williams 2-4 0-0 4; Ryan Linch 0-1 2-2 2; Bill Foley 0-3 1-2 1; Frank Seke 0-1 0-0 0; Mark Meyer 0-1 0-0 0; Gary Browne 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 13-22 80. MOUNT SAINT VINCENT James Mooney 8-14 3-3 24; Mitchell Senat 4-4 9-11 17; Dan Bailey 3-10 3-6 12; Christopher Renna 4-8 4-5 12; Luigi Nikci 2-8 7-10 11; Greg Casey 1-1 0-0 3; Charles Hernandez 0-4 2-2 2; Michael Cortese 0-1 2-2 2; Pat Narciso 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 30-39 83. SUNY-Maritime................. 33 47 - 80 Mount Saint Vincent........... 47 36 - 83 3-point goals-SUNY-Maritime 5-11 (Frantz Dunel 3-4; Marc Lashley 1-2; Jimmy Berkeybile 1-4; Frank Seke 0-1), Mount Saint Vincent 9-23 (James Mooney 5-10; Dan Bailey 3-7; Greg Casey 1-1; Pat Narciso 0-5). Fouled out--SUNY-Maritime-None, Mount Saint Vincent-None. Rebounds-SUNY-Maritime 45 (Lionel Watlington 11), Mount Saint Vincent 33 (Luigi Nikci 7). Assists-SUNY-Maritime 10 (Marc Lashley 4), Mount Saint Vincent 15 (Christopher Renna 11). Total fouls-SUNY-Maritime 22, Mount Saint Vincent 18.