The men's basketball team fell to Hunter College, 77-64, on Saturday afternoon at Hunter. The Bloodhounds drop to 2-10 overall and 1-4 in the conference. The Hawks improve to 1-9 on the season and 1-3 in CUNYAC. 

Junior Kiernan Hayes led John Jay with his first double-double of the season with a team-high 18 points, on 5-of-12 shooting, a game-high 11 rebounds, and a game-high two blocks. Junior Jesse Higgins finished with 16 points. Freshman Essien Epps registered 13 points, shooting 5-for-11 from the field, four rebounds, a game-high three steals, and two assists. Freshman David Morris came off the bench and added six points and five rebounds. 

With the Hawks leading 7-2, the Bloodhounds went on an 11-0 run to go up13-7 with 15:09 left in the first half. Hunter cut the deficit to three but a free-throw by junior Geno Ware and a layup by Hayes increased the lead back up to six. Two minutes later and John Jay ahead by five, Hunter registered four straight points to trail 19-18.

The Hawks tied the game at 23 apiece with 7:58 on the clock. The hosts then went on a 11-0 run to lead 34-23. Heading into halftime, John Jay trailed 40-30. 

The Bloodhounds started the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the Hawks' lead to 42-40. Hunter scored the next five points but a layup by Hayes cut the lead back down to five with 13:06 remaining. Two minutes later, the Hawks increased their lead to 10. 

With the Hawks ahead 66-57, Epps connected on two free-throws and Higgins made a layup. Hunter ended the game on an 11-3 run to record their first conference win of the season.

John Jay finished 23-for-63 (36.5%) from the field, 3-for-17 (17.6%) from behind the arc, and 15-for-21 (71.4%) from the charity stripe.  

The Bloodhounds travel to Baruch College on Tuesday, January 5, for a conference game at 7:30 pm.