Kean Men Fall at Staten Island, 72-64

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (1/19/10) - Junior forward Jonathan Jones (Linden, N.J.) recorded his third straight double-double, however the Kean University men's basketball team fell to host College of Staten Island, 72-64, in non-conference action on Monday afternoon.

Jones (pictured right) finished with a game-high 21 points for the Cougars (5-10), who were unable to overcome a double-digit first-half deficit to the Dolphins (8-8).  Senior forward Christian Montervino (Ewing, N.J.) led four Dolphins in double-digits with 19 points, as CSI connected on nearly 60 percent of their shots from the floor (24-of-41, 58.5 percent) for the game. 

With the game tied at 5-5 just 3:06 into the game, the Dolphins capped an 18-4 run with 12 unanswered points to take a 23-9 lead with 12:39 remaining in the opening half.

The Cougars halted the run with six straight points to pull back within eight points, however a 10-1 CSI spurt extended the lead to 17 points at 33-16 with 8:25 to go.  A 15-6 Kean run closed the half to pull the Cougars to within single digits at 39-31 at the break.

In the second half, the Dolphins pushed the lead back out to 14 points with 16:46 left in the game, before Jones scored the first six points of a 19-8 run and senior Dean Hughes (Pemberton Twp., N.J.) (pictured left) capped it to pull the Cougars to within one point at 55-54 with just over eight minutes remaining.

After CSI pushed the lead back out to 65-58 on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Jordan Young (Wall, N.J.), Jones capped a 6-1 spurt with a dunk to cut the deficit to 66-64  with just under one minute remaining. 

The Dolphins scored on their next possession to push the advantage back out to four points and the Cougars were unable to score the rest of the way.

Jones hit 9-of-14 shots from the floor and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while Oshodi connected on 6-of-7 shots from the field en-route to 14 points.

Montervino added a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Dale Taranto (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 8-of-10 from the floor and scored 18 points.

The Cougars return to New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, January 20, when they host The College of New Jersey in a South Division match-up at 8 p.m.