The men's basketball team defeated Lehman College, 73-71, in a thrilling game on Wednesday night in the Bronx. The Lightning fall to 12-5 on the season and 7-2 in CUNYAC.
 
Junior Kiernan Hayes scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Luciano Cruz-Fernandez and junior Geno Ware both came off the bench and combined for 25 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Jesse Higgins registered 14 points and a team-high six assists. Freshman Essien Epps recorded 10 points and led the Bloodhounds with four steals.
 
In the first half, the Bloodhounds and the Lightning exchanged four lead changes within the first 10 minutes of the game. The Bloodhounds jumped out with a 10-0 run with 6:34 left in the first half, to lead 26-15. The Lightning struck back with a 7-0 run two minutes later. The Bloodhounds kept fighting and maintained their lead and went into halftime up, 39-26.
 
To start the second half, Higgins hit two free throws to extend the Bloodhounds lead by 15. Both teams continued to go back and forth as Lehman cut their deficit to one with 12 minutes left in regulation. The Bloodhounds regained momentum when Higgins hit a three point shot from behind the arc.
 
The Bloodhounds relied heavily on their low post and mid-range offense to put points on the board.  With time winding down in the game, Lehman committed a foul putting junior Ronald Merriwether on the line to hit two free throws with five minutes remaining in the game. With less than three minutes left, Cruz-Fernandez nailed a three-point shot extending the lead back up to five. The Lightning were closing the deficit, as the hosts were only down by two with 52 seconds left, but Hayes hit a clutch free throw to seal John Jay's second conference win of the season.
 
John Jay went 25-for-64 (39.1%) from the floor, 10-for-24 (41.7%) from behind the arc, and 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the free throw line.
 
The Bloodhounds (3-15 overall; 2-7 CUNYAC) host Brooklyn College on Friday, January 22, at 8:00 pm at the Doghouse.