Whitney became the second Kings Point (9-5) player in the past week to eclipse the quadruple-figures barrier; fellow senior tri-captain Mark Medvetz reaached the mark Monday night (Jan. 12) against Baruch. Whitney's milestone came on a lay-in with 4:32 remaining in the first half.
In that opening half of play, the visiting Dolphins (9-5), who snapped KP's season-long seven-game winning streak, was knotted up with the hosts at 12-all with 13:49 to go. Jason Coke then drained his only three-point field goal of the night, and kick-started a 14-3 run to give Staten Island a 26-15 lead with 8:34 left in the opening stanza. The Mariners got the lead as low as two before the end of the half, but the Dolphins scored the final four points of the frame to hold a 40-34 lead at the break.
Staten Island pumped its lead up to 54-42 with 14:07 remaining on a lay-in by Michael Nebavlakis (17 points, team-high six rebounds), before the Mariners used a Joe Hart 3-ball to pull within 56-52 with under 12 minutes to go. The Mariners made a run out of it after Whitney dropped in a pair of free throws with 2:15 to go, and the Dolphins' lead was 66-65. Stewart then reached the 1,000-point mark by dropping in a trifecta on Staten Island's next trip down the floor, sparking a 7-0 run by the Dolphins and led by eight with 43 seconds to go. KP got to within three on another Hart (11 points) trey with 25 seconds to go, but a Nebavlakis free throw with 8 seconds to go finished off the evening.
Junior tri-captain Josh Buck notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Mariners, while Medvetz poured in 22 points on a 7-for-11 performance from the field. Sophomore point guard Paul Tricarico had a game-best five assists.
Head coach Chris Carideo's Kings Point squad gets back into action Thursday night (Jan. 22), when it looks to improve on a 4-1 Skyline Conference mark at Farmingdale State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.