New London, Conn. – Juniors Omonya Onwe (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Cody Gauvard (Rockaway, N.Y.) combined for 47 points as the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team defeated Mount Ida on Friday night by a score of 107-79. Onwe lead the team with 24 points, as four Dolphins scored in double figures.
The two teams swapped the lead over the first four minutes of the tilt, before the Dolphins took the lead for good on a Gauvard layup with just over 13 minutes left in the first half. Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) extended the Mount Saint Vincent lead to double figures at the 10:29 mark of the first half and the Mustangs would only get as close as nine points the remainder of the tilt.
The Dolphins shot a blistering 55-pecent from the floor in the first half and took a 53-42 lead into the half. Gauvard led the way at the break for the Mount with 14 points. Onwe scored 12 before halftime and Cunningham came off the bench to score 10 of his 11 points before the intermission.
Mount Ida would get only as close as 11 points in the second half as the Dolphins extended the lead to 20 on a George Naldjieff (Miami, Fla.) bucket with just over 11 minutes remaining. Mount Saint Vincent would push the bulge to a game-high 31 points on a Dino Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) triple with 1:22 left in the contest.
Overall in the contest the Dolphins shot 56.8-percent from the floor, but struggled from behind the arc going just 5-for-13. For the second straight game the Dolphins also had a tough time from the free-throw line after shooting just 55.6-percent from the line on Friday.
Onwe finished up 11-for-17 from the floor on Friday and also collected three rebounds and handed out an assist. Gauvard went 10-for-14 from the floor and pulled down six rebounds for the Dolphins.
Cunningham and Naldjieff combined for 21 of the Mount's 49 bench points in the game, with Naldjieff posting 10 points and five rebounds. Alvin Pegues (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted three points, but gathered six rebounds and handed out nine assists against just two turnovers. Pegues, Johnson and Mark Waite (Chicago, Ill.) each collected a pair of steals for the Dolphins.
Mount Ida was able to shoot just under 46-percentfrom the floor in the contest, but made 15 fewer field goals then Mount Saint Vincent. David Gibbs led four Mustangs in double figures with 21 points, with Isiah Benjamin adding 13 points and seven assists.
The win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 2-0 on the season heading into Saturday afternoon's championship game. The Dolphins will look to collect the tournament tilt against host Mitchell at 3:00 p.m.