Kings Points, NY – On Friday evening, the men's basketball team came away with their second straight victory, defeating the Trailblazers of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) by a score of 84-79. The won marks the Hawk's fourth victory in their last five games and moves their record to 5-13 overall while their CUNYAC mark holds at 4-4.
 
The Hawks had four players in double figures with freshman Jonah Bevacqua leading the way with 19 points on 8-14 shooting from the floor to compliment his seven boards. Gio Gabbidon went 8-13 to net himself 17 points while George Keener added 10 points in the victory. Melvin Collins had a big game off the bench, shooting a very efficient 5-8 from the field which included going 3-4 from deep for 15 points.
 
The Purple and Gold led for the majority of the first half but MCLA stayed close throughout. At the 15:04 mark, Bevacqua made good on a jumper to give his team a six point lead, their largest of the half. Collins sank a jumper a few minutes later to bring the lead back up to six once again, but the visitors used a 16-4 run to put the Hawks in a five point hole with 6:44 left to play in the half. Heading into the break, the Purple and were up by two.
 
There were 10 lead changes in the second half; a testament to how close the game was. MCLA's Quentin Gittens converted on a three point play the hard way to give his team a slim 74-72 lead with 3:31 left in the game. Judah McIntyre sank a deuce to tie the game and them Collins, on a feed from Keenr, made a layup after being fouled by Hayden Bird. He drained his one shot attempt from the charity stripe to put the Hawks up by three with just 1:40 left. It was the catalyst that kept Hunter in the lead for the remainder of the game. Hunter sank six of their final seven free throw attempts to seal the deal on the 84-79 victory.
 
Up next, the Hawks will return home and host the Cardinals of York College on Tuesday, January 28. Tip-off will be at 7pm.