New York, NY – The men's basketball team took on cross-town rivals, John Jay in a CUNYAC contest yesterday evening.  After finding themselves down by one at the half, the Hawk's defense buckled down in the second and held their counterparts to just 34 points as they powered home to a hard fought 86-80 victory. The win advances the Purple and Gold to 3-17 overall, 2-9 CUNYAC.
 
Alex Mattina had a career day as he drained a remarkable 33 points on 11-16 from the field which included going 7-11 from downtown and sinking four of five attempts from the charity stripe. Brian Kruger registered his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 assists while Amer Lukac matched his teammate with 17 points of his own. The Hawks shot an impressive 57.4 percent from the field and 52 percent from downtown.
 
Hunter jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and stayed out in front for nearly the entire duration of the half. Leading 9-8 at the 16:07 mark, the Hawks put in a 14-4 run sparked by a Kruger layup. A triple from Gerard Carty mixed in with the efforts of Mattina, Robert Borusiewicz and Kruger made it an 11-point affair with 13:18 left to play. Not to be outdone, the Bloodhounds clawed their way back to tie it at 34 on a Chukwubiekem Oguaha layup. Once again, Hunter responded and took a seven point advantage with under four left in the half. Geno Ware's three pointer gave John Jay their first lead of the game and they closed out the half going up by one after Luciano Cruz-Fernand delivered on a jumper at the buzzer.
 
The Hawks were held to just three points in the first 13:24 as they found themselves behind by a seemingly insurmountable 13 points. However, over the final 6:36, they went off and scored 31 points while keeping the hosts at bay with just 12 points. From that point on, they connected on their first six shots, five of which were from behind the arc, quickly turning the tables and taking a four point lead with 2:09 showing on the clock. In the final 1:40, Hunter was sent to the foul line a total of 12 times and made a crucial 10 of them which enabled them to hold off John Jay as time expired.
 
The Hawks return to action on Tuesday, February 2^nd when they host the Cougars of Medgar Evers College in a CUNYAC contest at the Sportsplex at 7pm.
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