NEW YORK, NY – The Hunter College men's basketball team thwarted off a late comeback attempt by Baruch College, holding on for tonight's 67-62 victory at the Sportsplex.
Hunter improves to 2-1 in CUNYAC play and 6-6 overall. Baruch drops to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in the CUNYAC.
Senior Anthony Uter led the Hawks with 14 points and collected seven rebounds while Panagiot Koutsoloukas earned a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. The Hawks shot 52.2% on the night, including a 63.6% shooting performance in the second half.
After establishing a nine point lead midway through second, Baruch trimmed the Hawks' lead to three points (51-48) with 8:53 to go. Hunter maintained its composure and distanced the Bearcats once more, moving ahead by seven points but all the action boiled down to the final 2:39 of the half when Baruch cut Hunter's lead to just one point. Hunter relied on converted free throws from Courtien, John Akinyemi and Uter down the final stretch to earn tonight's win.
The Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes of the first half thanks to a pair of quick threes from Mark Courtien and a couple of Uter free throws. The Bearcats crept back into the contest, cutting the Hawks' lead to four points (11-7) with 16:06 left to play. Hunter established an 11-point lead--the largest of the half but Baruch refused to stay down with the Bearcats eventually surging ahead on a three-point play to take a 32-31 advantage into the break.
Hunter limited the Bearcats to just 32.4% shooting and forced 11 turnovers in tonight's victory.
Hunter returns to action next Tuesday, January 10th as they welcome New York University to the Sportsplex for a 7pm matchup.
