Purchase, N.Y.— The John Jay men’s basketball team lost in its 2007-08 season opener as the Bloodhounds were defeated by Manhattanville College, 69-60, in the opening round of the Castle Classic Tip-off tournament on Friday.
The Bloodhounds, now 0-1, went toe-to-toe with the host Valiants in a first half, which saw seven ties, and neither team lead by more than three through the first 19:59 of the opening stanza. A turnover by the Bloodhounds in the closing seconds of the half led to a three point basket at the buzzer by Manhattanville to give the Valiants the biggest lead of the half as John Jay went into halftime down 29-25.
John Jay opened the second half with a 6-0 run on a trio of field goals, one each by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith), Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic / William Taft), and Chris Jaeger (Hicksville, NY / Hicksville) to take a 31-29 lead 2:06 into the half.
Manhattanville reclaimed the lead momentarily on a three point basket. But a jumper in the paint by Robert Pierce (Far Rockaway / Benjamin Cardozo) gave the Bloodhounds the lead again with just under 17 minutes remaining.
But Manhattanville went on a game changing 14-1 run after that and it proved to be a spurt the Bloodhounds would not overcome. The Valiants took a 46-34 lead with 13:36 to play and led the rest of the way.
John Jay got the lead to within six on two occasions, first at the 9:23 mark on a three-point field goal by Vince Calderon (Woodside, NY / Queens Vocational) to make the score 48-42, and again with 1:23 to play on a Mason field goal which made the score 64-58.
John Jay was led by Mason with a game-high 18 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY / Franklin D. Roosevelt) added 15 points and six rebounds, while Jaeger added seven points and five assists.
The Bloodhounds return to action on Sat. Nov. 17 against Montclair State in the consolation game of the Castle Classic at 6 p.m.
