Bloochy Magloire returned to the lineup on Dec. 28 and has averaged 17.1 points per game since. Staten Island athletics photo

Much like the borough that the school is named after, the Staten Island men’s basketball team is sometimes an afterthought when the discussion starts about teams who can advance to the Final Four in Salem.

When people think of New York City and the boroughs that make it up, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan are easily rattled off. Somehow, Staten Island gets left out maybe because Jay-Z hasn’t mentioned it in a hit record. People have been slow to embrace the Dolphins and their 19-game winning streak, which ties the longest in program history.

The Dolphins (20-2 overall) have won 20 games for the third year in a row and are in position to return to the NCAA tournament for a third straight season. So why all the hate and the dimissive waves of the hand to a program that is 68-13 over the past three years and advanced to the Sweet 16 two years ago, lost to No. 9 Catholic in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year and has been one of the Atlantic region’s elite? The pundits and naysayers say because they play in the CUNYAC.

The Dolphins can’t control the conference they play in and contrary to popular belief, the CUNYAC is not as easy as CSI is making it look this year. They are the Miami Heat of the CUNYAC in which a win over the Dolphins makes a team’s season. Winners of the last four regular season crowns and consecutive CUNYAC postseason tournaments, the Dolphins are 38-2 vs. conference opponents over the last three years. So everybody brings their A-plus game against CSI.

“We know we have a huge target on our backs, so we get everybody’s best game,” senior forward Matthew Van Maren said. “Winning the regular season title is always nice and it’s a small step for us, but a good one. The lack of attention and hearing people say bad things about us is annoying at times. We understand why we’ve been overlooked, but people don’t understand how difficult our conference can be especially since it changes from semester to semester.”

Here are a few reasons why the Dolphins could be a tough out in March.

They have the pieces to do some terrific things against whomever they match up with. The Dolphins play sticky-in-your-face man-to-man defense with great on the ball pressure. They have plenty of playmakers. According to several longtime Atlantic region observers, the Dolphins are much better, pound-for-pound, than the team that went to the Sweet 16 two years ago. That team was a bit more disciplined and less streaky, but this team is the best.

In addition, they are deep, balanced, experienced committed to playing defense and have a trio of players in Bloochy Magloire, Jonathan Chadwick-Meyers and Javon Cox, who can do anything they want on the basketball court. Cox unloaded a monster 27-point, 16-rebound performance CSI’s 78-67 come-from-behind victory over John Jay on Saturday. They were both season-highs for Cox.

Myers has scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games for CSI. He averages 14.8 points after scoring 16 against John Jay. Magloire leads the Dolphins in scoring with a 17.6 point per game average. He has scored in double figures in all 15 games he has played in and has scored 20 or more points five times. Fifth on the CSI all-time scoring list with over 1,600 points, Magloire is a Division I athlete with high-level skills, an exceptional shooter and can go to the basket. Meanwhile, with Myers back his natural position of shooting guard, he has been super. He’s good at going to the basket and can score in traffic.

Cox contributes 14 points per game. Frankie Schettino averages 10.0 points per game. He opened the seasson with a 26-point performance against Eastern Mennonite, one of Staten Island’s two losses. Kevin King, Will Fonseca and Dylan Burgess, who stands 6-11, all have made an impact at some point during this special season for Staten Island. Fonseca averages 12.1 points off the bench for the Dolphins. He scored a season-high 31 points against Ramapo. Last week, he scored 24 points against St. Joseph’s (Bklyn.).

“Last year we had five kids,” said CSI coach Tony Petosa, who has 392 career wins. “This year we have eight or nine kids who I can really go to. Everything we do is really focused around our defense. If we don’t stop folks, it makes it that much harder for us to score. Both of my top scorers play both ends of the floor. A lot of scorers are not willing to defend. Last year, if they didn’t defend, I may take them out for a minute, but this year every guy on our team knows that if they don’t play defense then they won’t play. We are deeper this year and have other options.”

Even though the Dolphins don’t think about what-ifs and should’ves or could’ves, but it’s hard not to wonder that CSI could be undefeated had Magloire and Myers played in the two games that the Dolphins lost. They opened the seaosn with two road overtime defeats in their first three games to Eastern Mennonite and FDU-Florham, 76-70.

The Dolphins haven’t lost a game since the fifth day of the Division III season, which was on Nov. 20. CSI hasn’t lost a regular season game in regulation since Feb. 13, 2013 against Baruch.

During its winning streak, CSI has won in a variety of ways. There were scoring eruptions evidenced by the 113 points it dropped on Medgar Evers and the 109 points against Ramapo. The Dolphins have won nailbiters over York, NY (78-76), Randolph (59-58) and Montclair State (77-73). The win over Randolph may have been the most significant of the 19 during this streak. It came in the championship of their annual Heroes event after Christmas. It marked the first time that Staten Island has won the tournament.

“We all believe that we should definitely make a run,” Van Maren said. “Everything for us starts with our defense. We take everything one game at a time. We also know that losing a game now would be disappointing. We want to win the CUNYAC and keep going. We really push each other in practice and the best thing about our team is that we have six players, who can go for 20 on any given night.”

Van Maren remembers that Sweet 16 run like it was yesterday. The Dolphins hosted the first two rounds and blasted Ithaca and Rhode Island College before losing to MIT. He enjoyed the experience and hopes that the Dolphins will be able to host if they are fortunate to earn a bid to the tournament. The NCAA will release its regional rankings Wednesday and it will be interesting to see where CSI and Purchase fit in among the NJAC three-headed monster of Richard Stockton, William Paterson and Rutgers-Newark.

“Even though we advanced to the Sweet 16, we felt like we underachieved that year,” Van Maren said. “We were looked at as a Cinderella team, but we felt like we were supposed to be there. It was a surreal experience and it great to get that type of attention. It felt good to be something so big.”

The Dolphins will be no Cinderella this year. They are more like a big, bad wolf blowing through the CUNYAC. Staten Island is in an interesting geographical area for the NCAA committee. They can send the Dolphins to many destinations in the Mid-Atlantic, East, Northeast or South regions when the tournament commences next month.

Everything for Petosa starts on defense. It is ingrained into the players heads and that mindset starts in practice with very intense scrimmages. There have been stretches during the scrimmages where nobody has scored. Those practice sessions make for interesting locker room chatter as players discuss and debate who stopped who. The team is close-knit.

 “Coming into the season, I thought we could be very good,” Petosa said. “The CUNYAC has a lot of talent, so at the start of the year, I would have been surprised that we would be in this position. Now we have history behind us, so hopefully that helps in the respect department. Even though we made the Sweet 16, there were people saying that we’re not that good. We played well except for a seven-minute stretch against MIT in that game. You have to earn respect.”

Here’s hoping people stop hating on the Dolphins and appreciate the sustained excellence of the program.

Like father, like daughter

Haverford senior Nina Voith became the program’s all-time leading scorer as Haverford outlasted Muhlenberg, 49-44, at Gooding Arena on Wednesday night. While the accomplishment was sweet for Voith and probably slightly embarrasing, Voith was more excited that the Fords swept Muhlenberg in a season series for the first time in program history.

Nina's father, Dick Voith '77, is the men's program's leading scorer with 2,175 points. Voith deflected any personal attention when asked about what the milestone meant to her.

“The most important thing to me this season has been the way the team has come together and has been successful,” Voith said. “Without them the personal accomplishment would not have been possible. It has been a joy being on the court with such great teammates and to see how anyone of them can step up and do what needs to be done.”

Voith needed three points entering the contest to surpass the previous program-high scoring mark of 1,291 points set by Katie Crowley in 2006. Going 2-for-2 in the first four minutes of the contest, Voith broke Crowley's record on a 3-point shot from the wing in the fourth minute of the game. For the season, Voith is averaging 14.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

“Nina has done so much to help turn Haverford basketball into a winning program,” coach Bobbi Morgan said. “She is a relentless competitor who always plays hard. She finds ways to score in tight games and has come up with big shots time and time again. She has improved tremendously over the years especially on defense and in her decision making. We are thrilled that she has joined her dad as the schools all time leading scorer.”

The Fords are 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the Centennial Conference with four games remaining. Haverford is in second place, a half-game behind Johns Hopkins, who is 12-3. However, the Fords dropped both meetings to the Blue Jays. Also, McDaniel is a game behind Haverford after eding the Fords in overtime over the weekend.

Alvernia’s King of Dimes

Alvernia senior point guard Chris Davis handed out eight assists to become the Alvernia career assist leader in an 80-74 win at Elizabethtown. Davis entered the game two assists short of Chris Alba's career-record 416. He tied the mark with an assist to Kahlil Bennett at 14:46 of the first half then broke it when Bennett knocked down a 3-pointer two possessions later that tied the game at 13-all with 13:40 left in the half.

“It feels good [to get the record],”said Davis after the game, “but just as good to get the win on top of that. Seeing all these good guards that played here before me, it feels good to get a record like that.”

Bennett led the way with 27 points for the Crusaders. Parker scored 15, Harrison Deyo scored 13, Lamont Clark had 11 and Davis finished with 10. 

Alvernia stays within a game of Messiah and moved back a half-game ahead of Hood with lost to Widener. Stevenson remains a game behind Alvernia while Albright is three back following a loss on Saturday at Lebanon Valley with is a half-game out of the playoffs but holds the tie-breaker over Albright.

Commonwealth showdown

Wednesday night is the much-anticipated Stevenson-Messiah men’s basketball rematch in Gratham, Pa. Since its pulsating 103-99 double overtime win in a classic, Stevenson has wobbled lately losing four of its last seven games to see its overall mark drop to 14-7. Stevenson ended a three-game losing streak by erupting for 57 points in the second half in an 80-67 win over Lycoming. Stefon McCray led the Mustangs with 15 points. Messiah (17-3) is 5-2 since the Stevenson game. Brad Bolen and Taylor Groff each finished with 19 points to lead five double-digit scorers for Messiah in an 81-70 win over Arcadia. Groff also grabbed 10 rebounds. It was the 10th time this season, the Falcons have scored at least 80 points.

Spectacular Spartans

The York (Pa.) women's basketball senior class of Brittany Hicks, Kristen Haley, Kelsey Murphy, AjaWallpher became the most successful in school history as the foursome picked up their 80th career win with a 78-62 Capital Athletic Conference victory over Marymount on Saturday. York improved to 20-1 overall and 12-1 in the Capital Athletic Conference.

The 80 wins breaks the previous record of 79 set by the 2008-09 class. That year, the Spartans went 27-3 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 before losing a four point decision at Rochester against Scranton. The 2008-09 team lost their first game of the year and ripped of 25 consecutive wins. This year’s Spartans started the season with a school-record 18 wins to begin the year. The 2008-09 senior class included All-American Keli Ward.

How special is the York senior class? Well, when they gather for reunions years from now, they can each tell a memorable story of how each of them held a career record for York upon graduation.

Wallpher is the all-time assists (672) and steals (365) at YCP. Her career assists to turnover ratio is more than 2-to-1 (672 assists, 321 turnovers). Wallpher is 60 assists away from becoming the CAC’s all-time leader in the category (Salisbury’s Amy Cooke owns the record at 731). Wallpher led the conference in assists as a sophomore and a junior while she was second as a freshman. She currently leads the league in assists and is third in steals per game. Wallpher is a two-time All-CAC guard.

Haley is York’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 167 while she has tallied 1,449 career points. Haley’s blocked shots rank her fifth in CAC history, one back of tying for fourth place (168-Angie Owens from Wesley). Haley ranks seventh on the Spartans’ all-time coring list, 75 points away from moving past former Spartan All-American for fifth place on the Spartans’ all-time scoring list. Haley has 814 rebounds, which ranks her fourth behind Hicks. Haley was the 2010-11 CAC Rookie of the Year and is a three-time All-CAC player. She has 27 career double-doubles including three this season. Haley has played in all 107 of her career games as she is three games away from tying April Sparkman’s career record of 110 games played in York.

Hicks is the Spartans’ most decorated player. She was a D3hoops.com preseason All-American as a senior. Hicks owns the Spartan career record for made free throws (466) which is also the CAC record. Hicks has tallied 1,423 points and 896 career rebounds. She ranks third in career rebounding and is eight in all-time scoring. Hicks owns the top two single seasons in made free throws with 141 in her sophomore and junior seasons. Hicks has 36 career double-doubles including 15 as a junior.

Murphy is the Spartans’ all-time leader in three point field goals with 181. She ranks fifth on the all-time CAC list, three back of fourth place and seven back of third place. Murphy has tallied 846 career points, 206 assists, 114 steals, and 63 blocked shots. She is one of two players to play in all 107 career games and, along with Haley, is three away from tying April Sparkman for the career record for games played. She has 11 double figure efforts this season including a season-high 20 against Frostburg State.

Bulldogs bite back

Don’t look now, but DeSales has won three straight games to soar to the top of the Freedom Conference with four games remaining. The Bulldogs are 13-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference. They will try to extend their winning streak to four and avenge a 13-point loss when they travel to Manhattanville.

In its latest conquest, a 68-60 home victory over Misericordia, five players reached double digits for the Bulldogs including senior Kyle Hash with team-high 15 points. Cody Deal finished with 12 points, on four 3-pointers and added five rebounds, Mike Coleman and freshman Brian Laird each had 11 points, and junior Travis Bryan continued his outstanding play with his first career double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds, as well as the first double-double of the season for any Bulldog. The 10 points were a career-high and he also added four blocks in the win. Deal made two 3-pointers and Coleman went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final three minutes.

Hash finished with a team-high 18 points and added four assists, Coleman had 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds, and Deal also reached double digits with 11 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 75-68 victory over Delaware Valley to start the week.

For the season, the Bulldogs have been fueled by a balanced squad. Coleman (15.3 ppg) and Hash (12.9) are the only players, who average double digits for DeSales. Deal has the perfect name for a closer. He leads the Bulldogs with 33 3-pointers and averages 9.7 points per game. Paul Pammer adds 9.2 points per outing for DeSales.

Fear the Green Terror

McDaniel is one win away from clinching a playoff spot in the Centennial Conference. The Green Terror has won nine of its past 10 games to raise its overall record to 16-5. McDaniel heads to first-place Dickinson on Wednesday night for a first place showdown.

McDaniel is one of the rare teams that doesn’t have a player averaging double figures in points. Looks like McDaniel will be a factor for a while as its top four scorers are underclassmen. The Green Terror has been getting the job this season with balance and teamwork.

Junior guard Phillip Perry leads McDaniel in scoring with a 9.6 point per game average. Junior guard Andrew Merlo chips in 9.2 points per game. Sophomore guard Wesley Brooks scores 8.8 points per contest. Sophomore Tim Stewart adds 7.8 points per outing. Senior Evan Pupeils leads the team in rebouding (6.0) while also scoring 7.2 points per game.

Jimmy Cranwell led the Green Terror with a career-best 12 points while Stewart reached double figures for the second straight game with 10 points in a 52-47 win over Haverford on Saturday. In its first game last week, McDaniel held Washington College without a point for the first 6:55 of the game en route to a 74-42 win. The 42 points were the fewest points allowed by the Green Terror this season. Stewart scored 15 points. As an example of its balance, six other McDaniel players tallied no fewer than six points and 13 of the 14 players to step on the court tallied at least two points.

Williams’ grand milestone for CCNY

 Syreeta Williams made her final home game memorable in more ways than one for CCNY. En route to scoring her 1,000th career point in her collegiate career, she finished with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds in the City College of New York's 79-66 win over visiting New Rochelle on Saturday. This was the Beavers’ 10th win, the most for the program since the 2008-09 season.

Williams averaged 19.6 points per game last week in helping the Beavers enjoy a perfect week that saw them win three games. For Williams, this was the fourth time this season, she scored at least 20 points and the second time this year she scored 20 points in consecutive games. For the season, the 5-9 biology major nicknamed “Pookie” averages 10.3 points per game and 7.6 rebounds. The Queens, N.Y., native has collected seven double-doubles, including five straight. Her favorite players Candace Parker and Kobe Bryant would be proud of those numbers.

The Beavers opened the week with a strong performance from junior Karissa Core, who had one of her best games of the season, scoring 23 points with nine rebounds as CCNY defeated visiting York (N.Y.), 70-32. Core leads the Beavers in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per outing. Core has scored in double figures 14 times this season. She dropped a season-high 27 points against Brooklyn. Sophomore Bria Fisher also had a hand in helping the Beavers enjoy a perfect week. The public relations major averaged 17.6 points. She scored 20 points against New Rochelle. The 5-9 forward is averaging 12.7 points per game for the season.

Mid-Atlantic Crossovers

Kara Dayon, Alyssa McDonough and Leigh-Ann Lively all scored 14 points to help FDU-Florham beat King’s, 90-44, and improve its record to 21-0. ... Rosemont’s Dominique Sellers pulled down 11 rebounds and was credited with eight assists and 12 steals to lead the Ravens in those categories during a 79-15 win over Notre Dame (Md/). The 12 steals set a Rosemont record for steals in a single game, eclipsing the old record of nine steals by Ekaterina Markova vs. Eastern on Feb. 1, 1999. As a team the Ravens had 35 steals, breaking the old team single-game record of 23 vs. Arcadia in 1997. The Ravens led 48-0 at halftime. Freshman Erika Deppenschmidt notched 13 total points to lead Notre Dame and has led the Gators in scoring seven times this season. ... Erica Marvel scored 20 points, including four from beyond the arc to help Neumann defeat Keystone, 76-59. JoHanna Metzger and Jordan Ogden each had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Colleen Hinde added 10 points and Lauren Walker pulled down 11 boards for the Knights. ... Taylor Miller’s 16 points helped Messiah beat Arcadia, 70-53 and extend its winning streak to seven games. ... Catholic’s Corey Stanford scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Cardinals to a 67-60 victory over Drew. ... It is the freshman's fourth game of at least 25 points on the road this season and pushes the Cards' road record to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the Landmark Conference. ... Widener junior Greg Lawson was a rebounding machine last week. He grabbed 45 boards in two wins last week for Widener, who have won three straight. Lawson finished with 13 points and 23 rebounds to help Widener beat Hood, 82-77 on the road. The 23 rebounds breaks the record at BB&T Arena and comes after he hauled in 22 rebounds Wednesday against Stevenson. ... Ryan Beaver’s 19 points helped York (Pa.) stun Wesley, 62-48..Wesley had its school-record 12-game winning streak snapped. 

Atlantic Rim-Rockers

Joel Neri scored 22 points to help SUNY-Purchase defeat Yeshiva, 75-59, to remain perfect in Skyline Conference action. The Panthers are 19-1 overall and 13-0 in conference. ... The Sage Gators got a double-double from junior forward Kai Deans with 21 points and 15 rebounds as they beat St. Joseph’s (L.I.), 69-59. With the win, Sage improves to 13-8 overall and 9-5 in the league, tying the program's record for most wins in a season at 13, a feat the Gators have now achieved three times in the five young years of the program. ... The William Paterson men's team secured a spot for the upcoming NJAC tournament with a 69-59 victory at New Jersey City. The Pioneers are 17-5 overall and have won three straight games. Javae King-Gilchrist made 9-of-11 shots from the field to score a game-high 23 points for WPU as it ended Rutgers-Newark’s nine-game winning streak with a 74-50 victory. ... David Smith led the way with 31 points, nine rebounds, and six assists as the Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team earned a 98-86 shootout victory over Goucher on Saturday. Nick Sergio added a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds while Zach Karczewski struck for 22 points of his own. ... Brooklyn’s 6-1 center Megan Campbell scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots to help the Bulldogs beat Hunter, 61-55 in CUNYAC action. ... Junior forward Melissa Tobie tied a career high with 32 points and added nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals helping Montclair State lock up a first-round bye in the NJAC tournament with an 86-64 win over Richard Stockton on Saturday. The Red Hawks have won six straight games, all by double figures, since losing to Kean. Montclair State hosts Kean for the rematch Saturday afternoon. ... Also, in the NJAC, The College of New Jersey senior Kelly Roddy had a big game as she tied a career-high with 20 points and added seven rebounds and four assists in a 70-48 win over Rutgers-Newark. The Lions have won four straight games. ... Rebecca Kelly scored 15 points and Kiara Carter pulled down 15 rebounds to help PSU-Harrisburg break an eight-game losing streak with a 59-40 victory over Southern Virginia. ... Christopher Newport extended its winning streak to 14 games with wins over Salisbury and Wesley.

Unsung Hero requests

In two weeks, my hope is to do something on all the unsung players, coaches, managers, scorekeepers, etc. that make Division III basketball special. Here’s your chance to recommend somebody to be included in the Feb. 25 ATR column. Send me an email to rob.knox@d3hoops.com with the name and a short sentence or two on why your submission is impactful to your team and/or institution. I really hope that you flood my inbox with names.