New York, N.Y. - The men's basketball team came up just short last night, being defeating by the Lehman College, 73-79. The Hawks used a 50 point second half to close the halftime gap but failed to close the deficit. The loss puts the Purple and Gold in third place in the conference at 7-5 with four games left to play.
 
George Keener led the hawks with 28 points on 10-14 shooting from the field and chipped in seven rebounds. Jonah Bevacqua continued his strong freshman season, registering a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Judah McIntyre helped facilitate the offense with 7 assists to go along with eight points.
 
Hunter struggled shooting in the first half after going just 9-30 from the field and going 2-13 on three-point attempts. Lehman jumped on the Hawks early getting out to a 16-3 lead just five minutes into the game. The Hawks would answer though as a jumper by Gio Gabbidon cut the lead to single digits with ten minutes to play. Lehman's Isaiah Geathers was exceptional in the first half, scoring 23 points. Heading into halftime the Hunter would find themselves down 23-40.
 
The second was a whole new ballgame. The offense found their stroke and as a team, John Pelin's team shot 50 percent from the floor, making 17 field goals. Hunter trailed by as much as 19 at one point but quickly cut into the lead. A 19-6 run made it a six point affair with ten minutes left to play. The teams traded baskets for much of the rest of the half, the Hawks would close to as close as five points at 65-70 after two free throws by Keener with 90 seconds left to play. The comeback fell short though as Lehman converted 5-6 from the free throw line to finish the game at 79-73.
 
The Hawks return to the court on Wednesday, February 12th when they travel to Staten Island to compete against CSI in a non-conference matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for a 7:30pm start.