No. 5 Staten Island Defeats No. 4 Roberts Wesleyan for Program's First Division II Playoff Win in ECC Men's Basketball Championship First Round, 81-75

Recap courtesy of College of Staten Island Sports Information ROCHESTER, NY – The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball Team earned the first Division II playoff win in the history of the program earlier tonight as they defeated Roberts Wesleyan University, 81-75.  The win sends the Dolphins to Amherst, NY this weekend for a matchup with 25-0 #1 seed Daemen University in the conference semifinals.  The CSI win is also the first victory for the road team in the all-time series between the Dolphins and Redhawks. The Dolphins fell behind 4-0 nothing in the opening minutes, but Aaron Goldstein quickly put the Dolphins ahead with the first of his five three-pointers.  Three of the next four CSI field goals came from beyond the arc as well with Chris Clancy, Shemar Latty, and Joey Poulin each connecting on a three.  Latty and Poulin would both hit another three soon after to extend the Dolphins lead to double-figures for the first time.  The Redhawks would then pull to within seven during the final two minutes of the half, but Goldstein sent the game to the break with three consecutive threes to put the Dolphins ahead 44-28. The Dolphins maintained a double-digit lead for nearly the first eight minutes of the second half, but the Redhawks finally trimmed the lead to eight with 12:07 to go.  CSI briefly extended the lead back to twelve on a pair of threes by Goldstein, but the Redhawks pulled to within five behind a 7-0 run.  With the lead down to two possessions, the Dolphins once again hit consecutives threes, one by Blake Wilson and another by Latty.  However, the Redhawks responded with eight straight points to get within three with 1:35 remaining.  RWU would pull to within two on two separate occasions behind a Keonjay Carter three and a Malik Brooks layup, but the Dolphins were able to close out an 81-75 victory from the line. Latty led the Dolphins with 18 points and finished the game 4-5 from beyond the arc while Goldstein connected on five threes and finished with 17 points.  Asa Kone was a major factor as well scoring 10 points and collecting 14 rebounds. With the win, the Dolphins advance to the ECC Men's Basketball Championship Semifinal on Saturday in Amherst, NY.  The Dolphins will face the #1 seed Daemen University on the their home floor on Saturday at 5:30 PM.
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