New York, NY – The Hunter men's basketball team had the nightcap to Homecoming as they took on longtime rivals Baruch College in a thriller. After falling behind by as much as 25 points, the Hawks bounced back in the second half and tied the game on a last second triple from Melvin Collins to force overtime. However, the Bearcats had the final say as they outlasted Hunter in overtime. The 91-87 loss moves Hunter to 3-5 overall, 1-2 CUNYAC while Baruch advances to 6-2, 2-0 CUNYAC.
 
Four Hawks scored in double figures led by Gio Gabbidon's 21. Danny Fusco chipped in with 19 while James Blair scored 15 and George Keener had 12. As a team, the Purple and Gold shot 43.5 percent from the field, went 11-25 from behind the arc and were 22-28 from the charity stripe.
 
Opening the game, 12 of the Hawk's first 14 points came from behind the arc with two of the three-pointers courtesy of Fusco as they went up early, 11-6. However, the lead was short lived as Baruch unraveled a 15-3 run by way of 6-7 shooting from the field and hitting on all three attempts from three-point land. Karon Blackwell stopped the bleeding with a trey of his own, but over the ensuing 5:30, Hunter was once again out-scored by seven, resulting in a 35-21 deficit with 6:20 showing on the clock. After starting the game 4-5 shooting, the Purple and Gold struggled and went 6-21 the rest of the half. Fusco hit on two of his attempts at the charity stripe in the final seconds of the half, setting the score at 54-31 in favor of the visitors as halftime approached.
 
The Purple and Gold had a monster second half on both sides of the ball in which enabled them to erase the 25-point deficit by scoring 46 points and holding the Bearcats to just 23. After a layup by Baruch's Bryler Paige to open the half, Gabbidon nailed a three to spark a 12-0 Hunter run, bringing the game within 13 points. However, they once again found themselves down by 18 points with 7:24 showing on the clock. Hunter unleashed 10 unanswered points over the ensuing 3:06 to cut into the deficit. Fusco hit a lay up with 11 seconds remaining to make it a one-point affair. After William Sixsmith's two made free throws, the Hawks had one final possession to force overtime. With the ball in Collins' possession, he drilled a tightly contested three pointer with three seconds left to head into overtime.
 
In the five extra minutes, Hunter found themselves down six with four seconds remaining. Gabbidon got fouled behind the three pointer and was awarded three free throws. On top of that, the Baruch bench received a technical foul adding two more for the Hawks. Gabbidon made all five to make it a one-point game yet again. However, down the stretch, Baruch hit all of their free throws and came out on top by four points.
 
The Hawks return to action on Tuesday, December 11 when they take on NYU at 5pm. The game will be played at the Hunter Sportsplex.