New York, N.Y. - A 20 point comeback in the second half was not enough to get the win for Hunter College men's basketball on Thursday night as they fell to Lehman College 72-67 at the Hunter Sportsplex.

The Hawks are now 8-6 overall and 5-1 in CUNYAC play, while the Lightning improve to 10-4 and 6-1.

The Purple and Gold spent most of the first half in the lead until the Lightning pulled ahead at the five minute mark. Lehman finished it off with a 13-2 run to lead the Hawks 37-26 at halftime.

The Hawks could not stop Lehman from scoring in the second half, trailing by as much as 20 with 13 minutes to play. Slowly the Hawks began to make their comeback, chipping away at the lead with points from Amer Lukac, Benny DiMirco, Matt Franks and Gio Gabbidon to make the score 60-55 with 5:04 on the clock. From there DiMirco hit two free throws and Lukac made a three-pointer to trail by just two points. 

Lehman remained in control but a layup from Matt Franks helped the Hawks cut the Lightning's lead to just one point with 40 seconds to play. Forced to foul, the Purple and Gold fell behind in the remaining seconds as Lehman went 6-6 from the free throw line to get the victory, 72-67.

Lukac led the team with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds. Franks followed with 19 points and nine boards, while Gabbidon added 12 points.

The team returns to action on Saturday when they host conference foe the College of Staten Island.