Staten Island, N.Y.— The John Jay men’s basketball team lost another heartbreaker as the Bloodhounds were defeated on the road losing to the College of Staten Island (CSI), 79-76, at CSI’s Sports Complex on Wednesday.
John Jay, now 9-15 (5-7 CUNYAC), was paced by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith) with 22 points. He shot 7-for-14 from the floor and was 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Fellow teammates Chris Jaeger (Hicksville, NY / Hicksville), Alex Valerio Flushing, NY / Francis Lewis), and Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY / Franklin D. Roosevelt) also notched double figures as Jaeger and Valerio scored 14 apiece, while Kased had 11.
The Bloodhounds came out like a house on fire. They opened the game on a 21-4 run to grab a 17 point lead with just over seven minutes gone by. A three ball by Mason capped the run as the Bloodhounds took an early advantage.
But the Dolphins did not go away and managed to get back into the contest late in the first half. CSI chipped away at the lead, and still down by double figures (32-19) with 6:31 to go, the Dolphins went on a 10-0 run to move to within three (32-29) with 2:48 to play.
The Bloodhounds weather the storm and still held on to the lead the remainder of the first half and went into halftime up three at 40-37.
CSI opened the second half on a 4-0 run to grab its first lead of the night (41-40) with 18:56 remaining. Both teams stayed within an eyelash of each other and traded leads, while neither team led by more than three through the first seven plus minutes of the second stanza.
With the score tied (51-51) with 14:09 to play, the Dolphins went on an 8-1 run to take its biggest lead of the night, a seven point cushion with 10:29 to play (59-52).
But the Bloodhounds came back to counter. They failed to get a lead, but did not let the game get away either. Trailing by five (67-62) with 6:57 to play, the Bloodhounds used an 9-2 run to take a two point lead (71-69) with 4:27 to play on a continuation three point play by Kased.
Both squads hung tough and were locked into a 76-76 tie with 2:31 to play.
But the Bloodhounds went cold down the stretch going 0-for-3 from the field and committing two turnovers in their final four possessions. Meanwhile the Dolphins took the lead for good on a free throw by Robert Mesjasz with forty five seconds remaining. The second foul shot missed, but the Dolphins got the offensive rebounds and connected on a jumper with twelve seconds remaining to go up by three.
On the Bloodhounds final possession John Jay failed on a pair of three point attempts in the closing seconds as the Dolphins prevailed narrowly.
John Jay returns to action on Sat. Feb. 9 for a home match against Hunter College at 2 p.m.
