Mount Saint Vincent Opens Skyline Conference Tournament At Mount Saint Mary Tuesday

Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team will make its third appearance in the league tournament in the last four years on Tuesday when it travels to third seeded Mount Saint Mary. Tip-off in Newburgh is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

The Dolphins will enter Tuesday's game winners of seven of their last 10 regular season games, including wins over Sage and NYU-POLY to close out the schedule. On Saturday in the regular season finale, Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the team with 19 points, while Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Mount Saint Mary took both regular season meetings this season and has won five of the eight meetings in Brian Nigro's four year tenure. The Mount's last victory over the Knights was a 77-70 triumph as part of a 10-0 start to the 2010-11 season.

In the first meeting on January 12, the Knights picked up an 83-72 win in Riverdale. The Dolphins held a four point lead with 12:26 to play, before the Knights closed the game on 20-13 spurt to win the contest.

Cunningham paced the Dolphins with 13 points and four rebounds, while Waite added 12 points and seven rebounds. The Mount knocked down 10 three-point field goals in the game, but weas outscored in the game 46-20 in the paint.

Kevin Millela led the visiting Knights with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Carlos Valdez chipped in with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Joe Stabach rounded out a trio of Knights in double-figures with 17 points to go along with seven boards.

On February 7 in Newburgh, the Knights scored a convincing 98-73 victory in which they shot 51.4-percent from the field and knocked down 13 three-pointers. Valdez led six Mount Saint Mary players in double-figures with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lenny Ragaglia knocked down four triples for the Knights on his way to 14 points. Donte Howell led all players with eight assists.

Cunningham again led the Dolphins after going 7-for-19 from the floor on his way to a game-high 21 points. Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) matched his career-high with five three-pointers and totaled 15 points.

Mount Saint Mary outscored the Dolphins 40-26 in the paint and the Knights turned 20 Mount Saint Vincent turnovers into 25 points. Mount Saint Mary also held a 10-2 edge in fast break points.

The Dolphins have three players averaging better then 10 points per game heading into Tuesday's contest, with Cunningham leading the way with 14.4 points per outing. Cunningham has scored 20 or more points in a game five times, including a pair of 30 point games. Cunningham also leads the team in assists with 76.

Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) is good for 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and Waite is scoring 10.7 points per game and is averaging a team-high 8.3 rebounds per night.

Mount Saint Mary enters Tuesday's game having one six of their final seven regular season games. The lone loss was a 68-67 defeat at the hands of Farmingdale State in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

Carlos Valdez leads the Knights in scoring with 15.2 points per night and rebounds with 11.1 per outing. Joe Stabach leads the way from long distance with 51 three-point field goals made on the season.

Mount Saint Vincent enters the game at 11-14 overall on the season, while the Knights stand at 19-6 overall.