NEW YORK, NY - The Hunter College men's basketball team slipped past John Jay College, 70-69, upsetting the Bloodhounds on Homecoming at the Doghouse on Tuesday evening.
The Hawks improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the CUNYAC while the Bloodhounds drop to 3-2 and 0-1 in conference play.
Jeffrey Daza tallied 17 points and
Mark Courtien added 15 to lead the Hawks offensively.
Panagiotis Koutsoloukas earned a double-double as he notched 12 points and dominated the glass pulling in a team-high 11 rebounds.
A back and forth affair in the early goings, Hunter used a late surge ending the half on an 11-5 run to establish a 33-28 lead at half time.
The Bloodhounds rebounded in the second half however, opening the stanza on a 30-15 run across the first 11 minutes to take a 58-48 lead with nine minutes left to play. Hunter never lost hope, tirelessly working away at the Bloodhounds' lead, whittling it down to just three points with 2:15 on the clock.
The Hawk defense came up clutch and held John Jay scoreless across the final 2:36 in regulation, enabling Courtien to hit a layup with 1:38 to play, trimming the deficit to just a point. John Jay attempted to score but Koutsoloukas pulled down the defensive rebound and dished it to Cerda who was immediately fouled. The senior stepped to the line and knocked down both free throws to give the Hawks tonight's 70-69 victory.
The Hawks had a good day shooting, finishing the game 52.1% from the field, including a 59.1% mark in the second half. Hunter finished 57.1% from three-point range and were 70.6% from the charity stripe. Conversely, Hunter disrupted the Bloodhounds' offensive flow, limiting John Jay to 41.7% from the field and 33.3% behind the arc.
Hunter returns to action this at Homecoming on Friday, December 2nd at 8:30 pm when they welcome Lehman College to the Sportsplex.
