STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – After a tight game throughout, the College of Staten Island made a late run to pull away from the York College men's basketball team and defeated the Cardinals, 72-59, in a rematch of last year's CUNYAC Championship game. 
 
Tonight was one of the most anticipated CUNYAC games on the schedule this year, with the two teams meeting for the first time since York defeated CSI, 87-84, to capture last year's CUNYAC Championship.
 
For most of the game, it proved to be another hard-fought game between the two rivals.  The two teams changed leads 18 times throughout and were tied on seven different occasions.  In the first half, the largest lead by either team was just five points, which was a 24-19 Staten Island advantage with 7:40 left in the half.  CSI would eventually take a four-point advantage into halftime.
 
The seesaw battle continued for most of the second half until things began to turn in CSI's favor midway through the second half.  A Ryan St. John 3-pointer gave York a 53-51 advantage with 10:03 to play.  But following that York basket, the Dolphins went on a 14-4 run to take a 65-55 advantage with 5:25 to play.  The run was highlighted by an emphatic one-handed dunk from Will Fonseca and capped off by a three-pointer from Michael Tate.  York could never recover from there.
 
York (9-6, 4-3 CUNYAC) was led by Jaron Williams, who filled up the stat sheet, scoring 18 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, dishing out three assists and adding two steals and a block.   James Wolf netted a career-high 18 points and Franklin Green finished with 10 points.
 
Staten Island (9-5, 5-2 CUNYAC) had four players score in double figures, led by Fonseca with 16 points.  He also pulled down a game-high 18 boards, while adding five assists.  Tate added 16 points and Frank Schettino had 11 points and seven assists. 
 
The Cardinals return to action this Friday with a home game against John Jay College at 8 p.m.