Bronx, NY – The men's basketball team took on Lehman College in a CUNYAC contest on Friday, January 23. Despite the efforts of three Hawks players scoring double digits, the Purple and Gold fell into an 11 point hole at the half and were unable to climb out of it as they suffered a 78-61 loss, dropping them to 1-16 overall, 1-7 CUNYAC.
Amer Lukac was the high point scorer for Hunter with 16 points on 6-13 shooting from the field and 3-9 from behind the arc. He also pulled down 10 rebounds to earn his first double-double of the season.
Alex Mattina and
Gerard Carty combined for 23 points and eight boards on the day while
Robert Borusiewicz chipped in with nine of his own.
Hunter came out strong, scoring on their first attempt of the game by Borusiewicz and following it up with a converted three point play by
Matt Franks. A triple by
Alex Mattina gave his team a five point cushion in the very early stages of the first, but an ensuing 21-7 Lehman run over the next 7:21 resulted in an 11 point Hawk deficit. A free throw and a knocked down three pointer by Lukac cut the lead to just four with 7:33 showing on the clock but another 12-2 Lightning run brought the differential back into double figures at 14 points. The hosts eventually led by 11 at halftime.
In the second, Hunter managed to cut the lead to less than ten points on five occasions but could not get any closer to within eight which came at the 15:18 mark. Trailing by 16 with under 10 to play, Franks' jumper, followed by a made triple from
Dan Shulman and a layup from Mattina sparked a 7-0 run to pull within nine as the clock showed 7:12 left to play. However, it was short lived as their counterparts fired back with a three pointer and jumper of their own, bringing the lead back to double figures. Down the stretch, Lehman sunk five straight attempts from the foul line resulting in the final score of 78-61.
Head Coach
John Pelin and the rest of the men's basketball team return to action on Wednesday, January 20 for a CUNYAC road game against CSI at 7:30 pm.
