New York, N.Y. - Hunter College men's basketball pulled out a 82-73 victory on Tuesday night, defeating CUNYAC opponent York College in a close game at the Hunter Sportsplex.

The win helped the Hawks improve to 8-5 overall and 5-0 in the CUNYAC to top the conference standings. The Cardinals are now 4-8 this season and 2-3 in conference play.

The Hawks overcame a five-point deficit in the first half, tying the game with 2:22 on the clock to get the win. The game feature seven tied scores and five lead changes.

The score remained close in the opening minutes of the game with the Cardinals not getting a solid lead until they went on a run at the 13 minute mark. From there they went on a 12-3 run to make Hunter trail by nine points. The Hawks fell further behind, trailing by as much as 13 in the first half, but outscored York 8-2 in the last two minutes to go into halftime down 42-37.

The Purple and Gold started the second off on the right foot as George Keener, Amer Lukac and Matt Franks all hit shots in the first three minutes to stay close to the Cardinals, but York continued to make baskets. Trailing by eight points with 12:06 left in the game, Hunter's Mamadou Sakho sunk a three-pointer, sparking a 10-1 run for the Hawks, polished off by a layup from Lukac to give Hunter a 60-59 lead.

The Cardinals took back their advantage, leading by five points before Lukac hit a shot from behind the arc and then Keener converted on a three-point play to tie the game 70-70 with 2:22 to play. Franks made a jumper on the next possession to give Hunter the lead for good and the Hawks hit all eight of their free throw attempts in the remaining minutes to take the game, 82-73.

Keener and Franks led the team with 21 points each, while Lukac posted a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

The Hawks return to action on Thursday, January 11 when they host Lehman College at 7 p.m.