The men's basketball team defeated Hunter College, 84-74, on Friday night at the Hunter Sportsplex. The Bloodhounds improve to 5-12 overall and 4-6 in the CUNYAC. The Hawks drop to 7-11 and 5-5 in the conference. 

Sophomore Essien Epps recorded his third double-double of the season with a game-high 28 points, shooting 4-for-6 from behind the arc, 11 rebounds, and a game-high four steals. Senior Kiernan Hayes registered 20 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, and seven boards. Junior MiKing Richardson tallied 13 points and a game-high five assists. Freshman Doug Levy picked up nine points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Wyatt Harkins added eight points. 

Hayes, Levy, and Epps opened the game with back-to-back-to-back three pointers to give John Jay a 9-4 advantage. With the Bloodhounds up by eight, Epps made a layup and a three by Hayes gave John Jay an 18-5 lead with 13:00 left in the first half. The Hawks responded on a 9-2 run to cut their deficit to 20-14. Epps followed with five straight points to put John Jay in front by 11. With the Bloodhounds leading by eight, John Jay registered 12 straight points. The Hawks ended the half on an 11-4 run to trail 44-31 at the half. 

Three minutes into the second period, the Bloodhounds increased its lead to 16 on a three-pointer by Richardson. Hunter followed on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 55-48 with 12:58 remaining. Ninety second later, Hunter trailed by five but Harkins, Epps, and Hayes scored eight straight points to put John Jay up 65-52. With 3:45 on the clock, Hunter cut the deficit to nine but the Bloodhounds ended the game hitting 9-of-12 free throws to hold on for the win. 

John Jay shot 26-for-56 (46.4%) from the floor, 10-for-16 (62.5%) from behind the arc, and 22-for-29 (75.9%) from the charity stripe. 

The Bloodhounds host City College on Wednesday, January 25, at 8:00 pm at the Doghouse. The game will be live streamed at www.johnjayathletics.com/watch.