New York, NY – In the Homecoming night cap, the men's basketball team hosted their downtown CUNYAC Rivals, Baruch College. Despite a hot start in the first half, the Hawks were unable to contain the Bearcats in the second, resulting in a 75-58 loss. In defeat, Hunter drops to 1-6 overall and 1-1 in CUNYAC play.
 
The Hawks had three in double figures and were led by Gio Gabbidon's 17 points, six of which came from the charity stripe. George Keener added 14 points while Jonah Bevacqua did his part with 11 points. Hunter lost the battle on the boards, 47-31 but had 10 steals and forced 21 turnovers.
 
It was all Hunter in the first half as the Hawks out-shot their opponents from the floor, behind the arc and from the charity stripe. Additionally, they capitalized off of 17 Baruch turnovers and turned them into 23 points. Fusco got his team started with a triple which sparked a 10-0 run to open the initial 4:03. Baruch's Ryan Graziano stopped the bleeding with a made trey but the Purple and Gold built their lead to a 15-point cushion, leading 20-5 with 8:36 showing on the clock. The Bearcats managed to cut the deficit to seven at one point, but the Hawks scored seven points over the final 2:40 to go into halftime with a 36-23 lead.
 
For John Pelin's squad, things went downhill in the second. They were held Scoreless for the first 5:27 while Baruch poured in 15 unanswered points to take the lead, 38-36. A jumper by Judah McIntyre stopped the bleeding temporarily but a 12-6 visitor run spanning 4:44 set them back by 11 points with just over six minutes left in the game. The Hawks kept within striking distance and came back to within seven with 5:15 left. However, it proved too much as Baruch poured in 18 points over the final minutes to serve Hunter with the loss.
 
The Hawks return to action on Monday, December 9 when they travel to Florham, New Jersey to take on FDU-Florham. Tip-off is slated for a 7pm start.