New York, NY – The men's basketball team hosted the Bulldogs of Brooklyn College in a CUNYAC matchup yesterday evening at the Sportsplex. Despite a big second half surge, the Hawks were unable to overcome a two point hump down the stretch in the final minute, ultimately falling, 96-89. The Hawks slip to 1-15, 1-6 CUNYAC on the year.
Matt Franks was the high point scorer for the Purple and Gold with 24 points; 14 of them coming from the foul line.
Alex Mattina's .500 shooting percentage from the field resulted in 20 points while
Brian Kruger's efficient 5-5 from three point land yielded him 15 points.
Robert Borusiewicz chipped in with 10 points of his own.
As a team, the Hawks shot an impressive 47.4 percent from the floor and connected on 12-28 from downtown. They out-rebounded Brooklyn 36-35
Brooklyn came out strong in the first, shooting over .500 from the field and sinking 10 three-pointers. The Hawks struggled to contain Egzon Gjonbalaj as 27 of his game high 42 points came in the first 20 minutes of play. However, the home team kept an even stride with the visitors and were down by just three points with 4:41 remaining. However, they went cold over the final minutes while Brooklyn ended the half on a 17-6 run, giving them a 14 point upper hand to enter the second.
The deficit grew to as much as 17 at the 14:49 mark, but Coach
John Pelin's squad did not give up. Eight unanswered Hawk points cut the hole down to nine and they further chipped away after a big three-pointer by Kruger, followed up by a Mattina jumper made it a three point affair, 77-74 in favor of Brooklyn with just under seven minutes left to play.
The Bulldogs responded with an 8-1 run of their own to bring the point differential back to double digits, but once again, the Hawks continued to attack and after a big trey by Franks, Hunter was within two points with 59 seconds remaining.
However, in the final minute, Brooklyn was sent to the foul line six times and drained five of them while Hunter missed two three point attempts and were held scoreless until the final buzzer.
The Hawks look to get back on track on Friday, January 15 when they travel to the Bronx to take on Lehman College at 7pm.
