The last time the CUNYAC / Con Edison Men's Basketball Championships were played at Lehman's Apex Arena, a senior from the College of Staten Island named John Cali carried the Dolphins on his back en route to the title. This year, two seniors are vying for the role as center John Smith (Bayside / Queens, NY) had 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, while guard Michael Stewart (Westinghouse / Brooklyn, NY) had 22 points and seven assists in the semifinals to knock off Lehman College, the tournament's host and top seed, and winners of their past 13 straight games, 79-70.
Coincidentally, Lehman's only conference loss this year was an 80-64 drubbing by CSI on December 7, 2004. The Dolphins (16-11) will play in Friday night's final at 7:45 pm, versus the winner of tonight's second semifinal, #2 NYC College of Technology (19-5), who defeated #6 CCNY to earn their second straight berth in the finals. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Dolphins in both regular season meetings this season, the only CUNYAC team to do so. In addition, NYCCT ousted the Dolphins from last year's CUNYAC tournament in the semifinals.
CSI grabbed the lead for the first time at 23-22, with 6:39 remaining in the first half, after being down by as many as five points. The Dolphins managed a two-point lead at the break, 37-35, behind 13 points and 11 rebounds from Smith. Three-time CUNYAC all-star and former Player of the Year Stewart added nine points during the period as well. The Lightning tied the game twice in the second period, but never managed to grab the lead. Moreover, Stewart hit five of six free throws in the final minute and a half to seal the game for the fourth-seeded Dolphins.
"I wish I was sitting in the stands for this one," said CSI head coach Tony Petosa, now in his 15th season. "It just came down to letting the kids play. We played tonight as hard as we can play, we played one of our best games of the year." Lehman, the CUNYAC North Division champions, received an outstanding effort by junior center Sekani Francis (Kennedy / Bronx, NY), the CUNYAC Player of the Year, with 27 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out of the game with 3:36 remaining. CSI senior guard Carlito Ulett (Midwood / Brooklyn, NY) added 15 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Mike Jones (Warren Hills / Washington, NJ) chipped in with 11 points for the second straight game for the Dolphins, who beat York College, 67-49 in the quarterfinals three days earlier. "They played better than they do normally and we played hard as always," said Lehman head coach Steve Schulman, CUNYAC's Coach of the Year. "But we played with a little tension, and when you play with tension, the ball rolls in and out."