New York, N.Y. --- The John Jay men’s basketball team dropped a double overtime heartbreaker as the Bloodhounds lost to Lehman College, 86-77, at the Doghouse on Saturday afternoon.
John Jay, now 5-9 (1-3 CUNYAC), was paced by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith) with a team-high 18 points. Fellow teammates Chris Jaeger (Hicksville, NY / Hicksville), Miguel Garcia (New York, NY / St. Raymond’s), and Alex Valerio (Flushing, NY / Francis Lewis) all came off the bench and recorded double figures in scoring. Jaeger scored 17, while Garcia notched 14. Valerio added 11 for John Jay as the Bloodhounds out scored the Lightning 54-17 in points off the bench.
The visiting Lightning jumped out to a 9-0 lead less than thee minutes into the contest, then led 19-6 at the 12:32 mark on a three point field goal by Duane Rhoden (Bronx, NY / DeWitt Clinton) who recorded game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds.
But John Jay, behind the second unit, exploded on a 15-0 run to take a 21-19 lead and control of the contest. A three point field goal by Gary Brady (Bronx, NY / Martin Luther King) gave the Bloodhounds their first lead of the contest and capped the run. Brady added nine points off the bench for John Jay.
Still leading by one (26-25) with 4:57 to play, the Bloodhounds went on an 8-0 run to grab a 34-25 lead capped off by a tip-in by Robert Pierce (Far Rockaway, NY / Benjamin Cardozo) at the 3:44 mark.
The Bloodhounds maintained the nine point advantage and went into halftime up 38-29.
John Jay opened the second half outscoring Lehman 6-2 over the first two plus minutes to take its biggest lead of the night (44-31) with 17:51 to play.
But Lehman chipped away at the lead and its dwindled down to six (44-38) with 14:16 to play capping off a 7-0 run.
But John Jay stayed strong and went back up by 13 when it used a 7-0 run of its own to go up 51-38.
The Bloodhounds maintained a double-digit lead over the next several minutes and led by 12 (58-46) with 5:27 to play before Lehman made its run. The Lightning used a 7-0 run over the next 1:58 to narrow the Bloodhound lead to five (58-53).
A fast break lay-up by Garcia with 3:22 to play put the Bloodhounds back up by seven. But Garcia, who was fouled on the play, failed to execute the three point play.
The Bloodhounds still clung to a three point lead (63-60) with forty-nine seconds remaining after Jaeger drilled two free throws.
Lehman, who shot 28-for-53 from the free throw line (53 percent), made one of two with thirty seconds remaining as Jameson Garcia (Bronx, NY / Norman Thomas) cut the lead to two.
The Bloodhounds then missed on a pair of foul shots with sixteen seconds left that would have given John Jay a four point lead. The Lightning capitalized at the end of regulation as a lay-up by Rhoden with five seconds left tied the game.
John Jay though had a golden opportunity to win at the buzzer. Brady’s driving lay-up in the closing seconds came off hard, but Garcia crashed through with a tip-in attempt that rimmed out sending the game into overtime.
In the extra session, after several key Bloodhounds including Valerio and Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY / Frankin D. Roosevelt) fouled out, Jaeger became a one man scoring machine. He scored all of the Bloodhounds’ eight points in the first overtime. The Bloodhounds led most of the extra session and still had a two point lead at 71-69 with thirty seconds remaining after Jaeger connected on one of two from the foul line.
But Lehman tied the game after Rhoden drew a foul with six seconds left and connected on both from the line. In John Jay’s final possession of the first over time, Jaeger, under pressure, fired up a three pointer at the buzzer that fell short sending the game into another overtime.
In a game that saw three members of the Bloodhounds foul out (Kased, Valerio as well as Gomez), the Bloodhounds then got a devastating blow as Jaeger picked up foul number five early in the extra session.
The Bloodhounds scored the first three points of the overtime. A lay-up by David Williams (Jamaica, NY / Martin Luther King) followed a one-for-two trip from the line by Jaeger (before fouling out shortly) gave the Bloodhounds a 74-71 advantage.
But Lehman went on a 10-0 run to take an 81-71 lead and put the game out of reach. The Bloodhounds didn’t score again until a free throw by Williams cut the deficit back to six with 1:07 to play but no closer.
A Mason lay-up with thirty three seconds left got the Bloodhounds back to within six, but John Jay never overcame as the Bloodhounds ended their two game winning streak.
John Jay returns to action on Wed. Jan. 9 at Brooklyn College at 7:30 p.m.
