The men's basketball team fought hard to lead by one in the second half after trailing by 18 but eventually fell to Lehman College, 87-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Doghouse. The Bloodhounds fall to 0-6 on the season and 0-2 in the conference. The Lightning improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in CUNYAC. 

Sophomore Essien Epps recorded a season-high and team-high 26 points, six rebounds, a team-high five steals, and a game-high two blocks. Freshman Wyatt Harkins finished with a career-high 22 points, hitting five three-pointers, and a career-high four assists. Freshman Doug Levy picked up his first collegiate double-double with a career high 12 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, and a career-high four assists. Senior Kiernan Hayes added nine points and eight rebounds. Freshman Tyrone Dennis came off the bench to dish out four assists. 

Lehman opened the game with 10 straight points but John Jay cut the deficit to six on a layup by junior Miking Richardson with 13:00 left in the first half. With the Lightning up by seven, the guests went on a 7-0 run to lead 28-14. Lehman went into half with a 48-33 advantage. 

One minute into the second half, Lehman held its largest lead, 50-34. The Bloodhounds responded right away with two three-pointers by Harkins and two jumpers by Levy to cut the deficit to 50-44 with 15:59 on the clock. The Lightning then hit a three-pointer but Epps and Hayes made back-to-back layups to trail by five. With Lehman holding a 57-51 advantage, Epps drained a three and Levy converted on two free throws to shrink the lead to one. 

In the Bloodhounds' next possession, Hayes made two free throws to give John Jay their first lead of the game. The Lightning then went on a 12-0 run to regain the lead, 70-59, with 6:47 left to go. On an 11-2 run, John Jay cut the deficit to two, which was capped off by three-pointers by Epps and Harkins. Lehman quickly increased the score to 78-72 and late free throws would solidify the win for the visitors. 

John Jay went 23-for-56 (41.1%) from the field, 10-for-25 (40.0%) from behind the arc, and 21-for-28 (75.0%) from the free throw line. 

The Bloodhounds host Hunter College during Homecoming on Tuesday, December 6, at approximately 8:00 pm at the Doghouse. The game will be live streamed at www.johnjayathletics.com/watch.