BOX SCORE New York, NY - Hunter College men's basketball's second half surge fell short on Wednesday night against first-place College of Staten Island as they dropped the game, 95-87.

With the loss, the Purple and Gold is 6-9 overall and 4-3 in the CUNYAC this season.

The Dolphins outscored the Hawks 47-32 in the first half, holding Hunter to 11 field goals, but the Hawks forced eight Staten Island turnovers despite trailing by as much as 19 points.

The second half did not start great for Hunter as the Dolphins three immediate shots to go up by 21 points. At the 17 minute mark Hunter's Danny Fusco scored five-straight points to spark an 11-1 run, allowing the Hawks to begin to close the gap.

Gio Gabbidon and Matt Franks each contributed to another Hawk run, making the score 60-54 with 13 minutes to play. From there Hunter's defense went to work as Benny DiMirco stole the ball and hit a fastbreak layup and Elijah Trotman immediately did the same thing, putting the Hawks down by just three points over a ten second span.

Five-straight points from Gabbidon gave Hunter their first lead of the game with 6:39 left in regulation, but the Dolphins made the game interesting by pulling ahead again. With one minute to play Staten Island led by five points, forcing Hunter to foul and eventually defeating the Hawks 95-87.

Gabbidon tallied a career-high while leading the Hawks with 23 points and eight rebounds. Franks followed with 22 and Fusco tallied 14, while DiMirco added ten points and a team-high four steals in the loss.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday, Jan. 14 when they travel to Baruch College for a 4 p.m. game.