Box Score
 
KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 22, 2022) – The #2-seed USMMA men's basketball team lost in overtime to visiting #7-seed Mount St. Vincent, 87-76, on Tuesday night inside a raucous Liebertz Gymnasium in Skyline Championship Quarterfinal action. The defeat drops the Mariners' record to 15-9, while the Dolphins improve to 10-14 with the win and move on to the semifinals on Thursday night.
 
Two players had 20-point nights for Merchant Marine, as freshman Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.) registered a team-best 21 points and senior Blaine McDonough (Marietta, Ga.) drained 20. Sophomore Josh Kauffman (East Providence, R.I.) used a strong first half to finish with 16 points, while bringing down a team-high with eight rebounds. Classmate Bryce Bristow (Plano, Texas) contributed 12 points, six boards and three assists in the loss.
 
The Mariners built up a lead as large as 11 points, 20-9, midway through the first half, thanks in large part to a total of six 3-pointers (three by Kauffman, two by McDonough and one by junior Brandon Bomboy (Yorktown, Va.).
 
The Dolphins fought right back to within three after scoring the next eight points, but USMMA answered with six-straight of their own on a three-point play by McDonough and Kauffman's fourth trey of the half that made it 26-17 at 5:29.
 
Play was back-and-forth the rest of the half until CMSV hit a trio of threes itself late, including one with 56 seconds left that tied it up at 33-33. McDonough finished the scoring in the first half with a three-pointer, as both he and Kauffman finished the first 20 minutes with 12 points each.
 
A quick three to start the second half by the Dolphins knotted it up once again, but the Mariners then went on an 11-0 run that included a highlight-reel steal and fast-break dunk by Vencel followed by a jumper by McDonough that made it 47-36 at 16:54.
 
Slowly but surely, the visitors clawed their way back in, including a stretch where they held Merchant Marine to just one point in over five minutes that helped the Dolphins take a 55-54 lead at 9:39 after an 11-1 run.
 
Numerous times in the final seven minutes, Mount St. Vincent would take a lead and the Mariners would come back to tie it up, or in two cases late take a lead. The Dolphins got up by three, 66-63 at 3:37, but USMMA responded with five-straight to make it 68-66 at 1:54, capped off by a three-point play by McDonough.
 
The two teams traded layups over the next minute, and the Mariners held a 70-68 lead with under a minute to play with the Dolphins retaining possession. A foul was called on a three-pointer with just 41 seconds remaining and CMSV junior Dan Porcic made 2-of-3 to tie it up.
 
The Mariners missed a jumper down at their end and Mount St. Vincent called a timeout with 13 ticks left, however their final attempt was unsuccessful and the game went to overtime tied at 70-70.
 
In the extra frame, both teams had early leads and the score was tied 74-74 at 3:05. Then Porcic and junior Aaron Darab combined for three 3-pointers in just over a minute (with a USMMA layup mixed in) which made it a seven-point game 83-76 at 1:12.
 
The Mariners resorted to fouling in the final minute, but the Dolphins made all four free-throws to secure the victory.
 
Porcic and Darab both had a game-high 24 points each for CMSV, while combining for 12 three-pointers (six each). Freshman Dillon Hod had 15 points off the bench and senior Dorian Robinson added 13, while classmate Kalos Evans led all players in the game with nine rebounds.
 
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