By: Michael L. Damon
mdamon@jjay.cuny.edu
(212) 237-8322
Box Score
New York, N.Y.— In what was advertised as the Baruch Invasion, the John Jay men's basketball team went to Baruch and successfully invaded Bearcat Nation as the Bloodhounds, in front of a massive crowd for Baruch's signature event, defeated the Bearcats 71-66 in an exciting contest on Thursday evening.
In what is officially referred to as the Battle of Lexington at Baruch College, an overwhelming number of spirited fans filled Baruch's ARC for what was a close game from start to finish. The contest saw seven ties and four lead changes while neither team led by more than eight the entire way.
Behind a faithful John Jay crowd that consisted of a portion of rows behind the Bloodhound bench, John Jay opened the game on an 8-2 run to lead by six, less than three minutes gone by.
Baruch hung in the contest and eventually took its first lead at 18-17 with 5:02 remaining in the opening stanza. The lead came in the midst of a 15-3 run that turned a 16-12 John Jay lead, into a 27-19 Baruch advantage with 2:13 to play.
But John Jay responded to the run by closing out the first half scoring seven of the game's next eight points to pull back to within a deuce as John Jay went into halftime down 28-26.
In the second half, Baruch maintained a slim lead through the early stages. But John Jay finally knotted the score at 48-48 with 8:56 to play. Baruch took another two point lead, before John Jay tied the game again at 50. Then on the next possession, Baruch took another two point lead, before the Bloodhounds knotted the score for the third straight time.
John Jay finally managed to take a second half lead on their next possession as
Swindon Charles went 1-for-2 from the line to take a 53-52 advantage with 7:09 to go. The
Kevin Philius, drained a three point field goal with 5:53 to go to put the Bloodhounds ahead by four and give them momentum of the contest.
Baruch stayed in the contest the rest of the way, but never took the lead again. The Bearcats cut the Bloodhound lead to one on two occasions, but never went back up.
John Jay had several chances to cushion the lead further, but several missed free throws by the Bloodhounds, paired with a 46-32 rebounding advantage by Baruch (22-11 on the offensive end)kept the Bearcats within striking range in the final minute.
John Jay eventually managed a five point lead in the final minute and took a 65-60 advantage with thirty-two seconds remaining.
Baruch's Chris Beauchamp was fouled while attempting a three point field goal with twenty-two seconds remaining, and he capitalized making all three of his foul shots to pull Baruch back to within two at 65-63.
John Jay took a 66-63 lead after going 1-of-2 from the line. Then a critical steal in a closing moments, followed by a fastbreak continuation lay-up by
Jerome Alexander (who made the free throw) put John Jay up six with less than 10 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats knocked down a three point field goal with just under five ticks remaining, before
Isaiah Holman cashed in on two free throws with three seconds left before winning.
The win by John Jay over Baruch marks the first time in Baruch history the Bearcats have been defeated in their Battle of Lexington event (they are now 6-1 overall). John Jay's victory was its first win over Baruch since the 2006-07 season.
John Jay was led by Alexander with 25 points and four steals (19 of his points came in the second half). Charles added 14 points and six rebounds.
Isaiah Holman had 12 points in the win, while
Jamar Harry had eight points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
Baruch was led by Beauchamp with 22 points, while CJ Jurewicz-Johnson had eight points and 10 rebounds for Bearcats.
John Jay outscored Baruch 33-24 on points in the paint and doubled up the Bearcats 20-10 on points off turnovers. Baruch turned the ball over 17 times to 12 for the Bloodhounds.
John Jay returns to action for its final regular season game on Saturday against Lehman College at 6 p.m. in New Rochelle, N.Y.
