NEW YORK - Tournament Most Valuable Player, Winston Douglas registered 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots Saturday night at Nat Holman Gymnasium, as the second-seeded Cougars of Medgar Evers College captured their second-ever City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC)/Con Edison Men's Basketball Championship -- and first since 1991 -- with a 62-56 triumph over top-seeded College of Staten Island.

"I cannot believe we just did it," said Douglas. "I am just so happy for my teammates. I am not even thinking about what I did to contribute; I am just happy for all of us. Our resilience really came through. We held them off, and never allowed them to get a (second-half) lead."

Medgar Evers (17-11) locked down defensively, limiting Staten Island (17-10) to a .316 field goal percentage -- including an 8-for-27 clip in the second half. James Gilmore scored 12 points and dished out a game-high three assists for the Cougars, while Robert Johnson chipped in with 10 points. MEC also utilized a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points, while holding a 47-39 edge on the glass.

For the top-seeded Dolphins, T.J. Tibbs led all players with 22 points, while Jordan Young registered 19 poitns, nine rebounds and four steals.

The Cougars never relinquished the lead in the second half, but it certainly was not for lack of effort by the Dolphins. Down 45-37 with 15:10 to go in the game, Tibbs scored the next seven points of the contest to pull CSI within a 45-44 score with 12:58 to go. Douglas scored back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back to five, before Matthew VanManen and Bloochy Magliore nailed jumpers of their own to cut Staten Island's deficit to 49-48 with 11:15 remaining.

After lengthy scoring droughts ensued, a Douglas free throw upped the MEC lead to 54-50 with 5:54 on the clock. Young laid home a runner with 5:06 to go, before his free throw sliced the Cougars' lead to 54-53 with 3:36 left. Medgar Evers's lead went back to four points (57-53) on a Douglas freebie, before Magliore's pair at the charity stripe pulled Staten Island to within 57-55 with 2:27 to go.

Jarrel Deare hit a pair of free throws for the Cougars with 1:14 showing on the clock to push his team's lead to 59-55, before Young hit one free throw with just under a minute to go. Medgar Evers opened the door slightly with a pair of missed shots at the charity stripe with 54 ticks on the clock, before Staten Island turned the ball over late in its possession with nearly 31 seconds remaining. Tony Sims then converted three of four free throws in the final 24 seconds of play to ice the game and lift MEC to its second CUNYAC crown.

Medgar Evers took an 8-6 lead when Douglas knocked down a jumper 3:43 into the first half, before Staten Island scored seven straight points en route to a 13-8 advantage with 13:13 to go. The Cougars responded not long after with an 8-0 spurt of their own, and when Douglas flushed home a two-handed jam, his side held a 19-14 edge with 10:27 remaining. The Dolphins pulled within a 19-18 count on a Tibbs lay-in with 9:46 to go, but Medgar Evers would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the half and went into the halftime break up 37-32.

2011 CUNYAC/Con Edison Men's Basketball Championships - All-Tournament Team

·        Amil John, Brooklyn

·        Mark Courtien, Hunter

·        Jordan Young, Staten Island

·        T.J. Tibbs, Staten Island

·        Jovan Deare, Medgar Evers

Most Valuable Player: Winston Douglas, Medgar Evers