New Paltz, N.Y.— One day after falling to the Hunter Hawks, the John Jay men’s basketball team lost to more Hawks on the road Saturday as the Bloodhounds were defeated by the SUNY New Paltz Hawks, 68-65.
After spotting the host Hawks a 7-0 lead to start the contest, the Bloodhounds roared back with a 12-0 run to grab a 12-7 lead capped by a three point field goal by Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic / William Taft) at the 13:35 point of the half. Gomez recorded 11 points off the bench for the Bloodhounds.
John Jay never relinquished the lead in the first half and led by as much as eight in the stanza and took a 25-17 lead at the 5:33 mark on a jumper by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith) who had a game-high 28 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
SUNY New Paltz stayed within striking range and got the lead to as little as one in the first half when it trailed 29-28 at the 3:09 mark, capping a 7-1 Hawks run. But John Jay answered with a mini 4-0 run to go back up by five with 1:44 to play before settling with a 35-33 lead at halftime.
SUNY New Paltz opened the second half with a 5-2 run to grab its first lead since early in the contest.
The host Hawks then took a commanding lead midway through the second half and grabbed an 11 point lead (61-50) at the 5:49 mark finishing off a 13-2 run that broke a 48-48 tie.
But the Bloodhounds did not go away and used a 12-4 run to draw to within three points of the lead on a lay-up by Alex Valerio (Flushing, NY / Francis Lewis) at the 1:42 mark.
But John Jay would get no closer. The Bloodhounds missed four straight field goal attempts in the final minute as SUNY New Paltz held on. Down by five, a Mason jumper in the final seconds got the Bloodhounds back to within three but time expired.
John Jay shot 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) in both halves and were out rebounded 43-37.
John Jay returns to action on Wed. Dec. 12 at New Jersey City Univ. at 8 p.m.
