Bronx, N.Y.— Melissa Escalera (Bronx, NY/ Adali E Stevenson) grabbed her ninth rebound of the game, a routine defensive board off a missed jumper by Lehman’s Tiara Carroll (Bronx, NY/ Msgr. Scanlan) at the 11:27 mark of the second half. It was the 1,000th for her career as she finished with 11 today to go along with a team-high 15 points as John Jay defeated Lehman College 60-57 at Lehman’s APEX Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The win, the Bloodhounds’ fifth in a row and seventh in their last eight, improves John Jay to 9-4 (3-1 CUNYAC) on the season, while Lehman falls to 5-7 (1-3 CUNYAC).
“At first I was worried about getting back on defense,” said Escalera. “I realized it was my 1,000th after I got back. It is a great accomplishment but my main concern is that we win. I know I can play this game, I think I’ve proven that, so right now I am focused on winning the conference championship this season.”
The rebound turned out to be a bright spot through a tough second half for John Jay, who scored 21 second half points after pouring in 39 first half points, and let a double-digit lead get away. John Jay led by as much as 13 in the first half and 12 in the second half.
The Bloodhounds led 39-29 at halftime, and 49-41 at the time of the rebound, but Lehman went on a second half surge to get back into it.
John Jay reclaimed a double-digit lead (53-43) with 9:42 remaining, but Lehman would go on a 10-1 run to cut the lead to one (54-53) with 5:41remaining.
John Jay would go back up by five (58-53) with a 4-0 run of their own on a jumper by Nasira Johnson (Newark, NJ/ West Side), who had 12 points and a game-high eight assists, then a lay-up by Sha-kia Hart (Brooklyn, NY/ Graham School), with 3:53 to play. Hart chipped in with 12 points, three rebounds, and two blocks in the win.
The Lightning though responded with a 4-0 run right back on a jumper by Sally Nnamani (New York, NY/ Warwick Valley) with 2:39 to play. Nnamani then followed by sinking two free throws with 1:16 to play.
But it would be as close as Lehman would get as Escalera layed in a Lashannen Hogue (Yonkers, NY/ Roosevelt) feed with 48 seconds remaining to give the Bloodhounds a 60-57 lead.
Hogue contributed with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds for John Jay.
Lehman would go 0-for-3 in the final 30 seconds capped by Nnamani’s missed three point attempt at the buzzer.
Nnamani paced Lehman with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds.
John Jay will return to action on Mon. Jan. 8 against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) representative Kean University at the Doghouse at 5 p.m.
