Riverdale, NY--- The Dolphins of the College of Mt. St. Vincent posted a 78-66 win over The Sage College's in Skyline Conference men's basketball action on Thursday night. The win puts the Dolphins at 5-11 overall and 3-6 in the conference, while Sage falls to 7-8 overall and 3-6 in the league.
Junior Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the offensive attack with a team-high 17 points.
Despite trailing for much of the first half on Thursday, the Dolphins rallied from nine down with 4:36 left in the first half to take a 35-34 lead into halftime. The Mount closed the period on a 12-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Stephen Oliver (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and a tip-in from Kevin Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.) with 46 ticks left.
The two teams would trade buckets early in the second half and a three-point play from Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton)Matt Farbotko knotted the score at 39-39 with 18:13 left to play in regulation time. The Gators took their first of three leads in the frame just under a minute later on a Michael Gallagher free-throw.
The two teams traded spurts in the middle part of the second half and Jacob Sopchak came off the bench to push the Gators in front by a score of 51-50 with just under nine minutes left. The lead would be the last of the night for the visitors.
Sage got as close as six points in the last half minute, but the Dolphins converted six straight free-throws to expand the lead to a game-high and final 12 points. Oliver tallied four straight from the line for the Dolphins to help secure the victory.
For Sage, Farbotko tallied a season-best 22 points and 10 rebounds. Farbotko has now tallied 723 career points as the Gators' all-time leading scorer. Sophomore forward Mason Horne (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) finished with 12 points, while rookie Michael Gallagher (Schenectady, NY/Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons) connected on 11 points with eight rebounds.
Senior guard Pat Lanoue (Troy, NY/Hoosic Valley Central) handed out a career-best seven assists with seven points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
Sage returns to action on January 21 hosting SUNY-Old Westbury in the Neff Center (Troy, NY) at 3 p.m. in a Skyline Conference game.
