Staten Island, NY – The Hawks took on the College of State Island in a CUNYAC showdown last night in what proved to be a thriller down to the wire. The Purple and Gold erased a six point halftime deficit and battled through to the end when Brian Kruger drilled a jumper as time expired to win the game, 82-81. The victory gives the Hawks their second CUNYAC win of the season.
 
Kruger's last second deuce was part of his career high 26 point performance as he shot 9-15 and was an efficient 6-7 from three-point land. Alex Mattina also had a big game, scoring 19 points, 15 of them from behind the arc. Gerard Carty and teammate Robert Borusiewicz each chipped in with 11 points each and combined for seven rebounds while Matt Franks was the Hawk's leader on the boards with nine rebounds.
 
As a team, they shot 51.7 percent from the floor and made over half of their 23 attempts from downtown.
 
The Hawks quickly utilized the three-point shot and built a seven point lead within the opening five minutes of the game as they lead 15-8 early on. CSI responded with a 9-2 run of their own to make it 17 all and then took the lead at the 9:56 mark on a layup by Khaleeq Baum. Hunter found themselves down by nine on two occasions with the last coming with 1:28 left in the half, but a big three pointer from Dan Shulman made it a 43-37 affair at the half.
 
CSI tacked on an additional five points to their lead, forcing the Hawks to erase an 11 point deficit to get back in it. Still down by nine with 13:50 left to play, the Purple and Gold used a 14-5 run, on the combined efforts of Bryan Silvera, Mattina, Carty, Kruger and Amer Lukac, to pull even at 63 as they approached the halfway mark of the second half.
 
A three pointer by Kruger gave the Hawks their first lead since the 10:23 mark in the first. Over the final 6:06, either team went ahead by more than three points. A free throw by Carty set the scoreboard at 80-78 with 2:16 showing on the clock, but Frank Schettino gave the Dolphins the lead at 81-80 on the next possession. In the final five minutes of the game, the hosts were just 3-10 from the charity stripe which left the doors open for Hunter to remain close.
 
Down by one with 1:59 showing, Khari Rollock was sent to the line for two tries but missed both. Down on the other end of the court, Franks went in for a tightly defended layup but was off the mark. After CSI rebounded the ball, Thomas Delahanty was fouled and sent to the line. He too missed both attempts and with Lukac grabbing the miss, the Hawks called a time out to talk over their game plan for the final shot.
 
After almost turning the ball over, Kruger gained possession of the ball, stepped between two defenders at the top of the key and released the ball just as the final horn sounded and found the back of the net to steal the 82-81 victory.

Hunter returns to action on Friday, January 22 when they take on Baruch in the Battle of the Lexington at 7:30pm.