Brooklyn, N.Y.— The John Jay men’s basketball team are now winners of three of their last four games as the Bloodhounds defeated Brooklyn College, 87-80 at Brooklyn’s Roosevelt Gym on Wednesday evening to improve to 6-9 (2-3 CUNYAC) on the season.
In what was a high scoring affair the Bloodhounds went nip and tuck with the Bridges through the first several minutes of the first half.
After the Bloodhounds scored the first four points of the contest, the host Bridges rallied right back with a 5-0 run to take a 5-4 lead very early in the contest.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well in the first half as John Jay opened the game shooting 63 percent (15-for-24) in the first half, while Brooklyn was 59 percent (15-for-27) through the first twenty minutes.
After falling behind the Bloodhounds, who led most of the way, trailed for several minutes in the first half. Brooklyn led by as much as four (18-14) at the 11:11 mark. But John Jay used a 14-2 run to take a 28-20 lead with 7:09 to play.
The Bloodhounds connected on four three point field goals during the run, including three by Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY / Alfred E. Smith) who scored 14 points. Miguel Garcia (New York, NY / St. Raymond’s), who had a team-high 16 points in the win, also connected on long range during the run. Robert Pierce (Far Rockaway, NY / Benjamin Cardozo) capped off the run with a lay-up.
John Jay would never trail again in the contest, and increased its lead to 10 before the first half was over. They took a 34-24 lead at the 3:55 mark on a lay-up by Gary Brady (Bronx, NY / Martin Luther King), who scored six points on the night.
The Bloodhounds still had a comfortable six point lead (41-35) at halftime.
In the second half, though never owning a lead, the host Bridges hung around.
John Jay still had a comfortable lead, leading by as much as eight (56-48) with 14:35 to play. But Brooklyn used a 6-0 run to get to within two points of the lead.
The Bloodhounds went back up by six, but Brooklyn then cut the lead to one on a 5-0 run that made the score 62-61 at the 8:50 mark.
But John Jay maintained the lead and went back up by as much as nine when it led 76-67 at the 4:16 mark on a pair of foul shots by Alex Valerio (Flushing, NY / Francis Lewis).
Brooklyn failed to get to within more than three points of the lead the rest of the way.
The Bridges cut the deficit to three at 83-80 with thirteen seconds remaining after Brooklyn’s Rich Jean-Baptiste connected on three free throws.
But Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic / William Taft) and Daniel Desir (Jamaica, NY / Jamaica) both connected on a pair of free throws in the final seconds to deny any Brooklyn comeback.
John Jay returns to action on Fri. Jan. 11 for a home match against Medgar Evers College at 7 p.m.
