New York, N.Y. --- The John Jay men’s basketball team wrapped up its 2007-08 regular season schedule with a win as the Bloodhounds defeated Hunter College, 92-85, in a match at the Doghouse on Saturday afternoon. With the win (plus Lehman’s loss to Baruch) the Bloodhounds unofficially clinched sixth place in the 2007-08 conference standings and will face the No. 3 seed next Saturday (Feb. 16) in the quarterfinal round of the 2008 Con Edison/CUNYAC men's basketball championship.
In what was a high scoring affair, the Bloodhounds led most of the way. Hunter opened the game with a three pointer to start, but John Jay ran off 10 in a row to take a 10-3 lead. Robert Pierce (Far Rockaway, NY / Benjamin Cardozo), who scored a career-high nine points to go along with six rebounds, connected on a continuation three pointer to go up by seven with 17:19 to play.
The visiting Hawks kept it close in the early stages. After falling behind by seven, they chipped away at the lead and tied the ballgame at 18 with 11:04 to play.
But John Jay used a 6-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish. Godfrey Mascall (Brooklyn, NY / Paul Robeson), who scored a season-high 16 points along with five rebounds, five assists, and five steals, put home a pair of foul shots to cap the run. Mascall was 12-for-14 from the charity stripe as John Jay connected on 27-of-37 free throw attempts.
Hunter cut the deficit to one on several occasions, but no closer. In the final stages the Bloodhounds pulled away late. Up 30-29 with 4:27 to play, John Jay accelerated with a 20-8 spurt to lead 50-37 at halftime.
John Jay led by as much as 15 early in the second half, but Hunter never quit. After scoring the first two points of the stanza, Hunter used an 18 -5 run to cut the deficit to two. But John Jay established a comfortable lead for most of the second half. They went back up by double digits again at the 8:10 mark on a lay-up by Hakeem Kased (Brooklyn, NY / Franklin D. Roosevelt) to give the Bloodhounds a 73-63 advantage. Kased led the Bloodhounds with team-high 18 points and seven rebounds.
John Jay would lead by as much as 11 moments later, but Hunter stayed within striking range but though never threatened.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the latter portion of the second half. Hunter cut its deficit to as little as five (83-78) with 1:35 to play and again with fifteen seconds to go, but no closer as John Jay went 9-for-14 from the charity stripe to preserve the win.
The Bloodhounds got 16 points from Emilio Gomez (Moca, Dominican Republic / William Taft) and 12 from Miguel Garcia (New York, NY / St. Raymond’s).
