The men's basketball team lost to the College of New Rochelle, 79-71, on Wednesday evening at the Doghouse. The Bloodhounds fall to 7-14 on the year. The Blue Angels improve to 10-10. 

Sophomore Essien Epps notched his fifth double-double of the season with a team-high 24 points, a team-high 10 rebounds, and a team-high four steals. Senior Kiernan Hayes recorded 13 points and junior MiKing Richardson dished out a team-high four assists. Freshmen Doug Levy and Wyatt Harkins combined for 20 points and 12 boards. Senior Geno Ware added five rebounds. 

CNR took an early 7-2 lead but Epps scored four straight points to cut the deficit to one. With 10:54 left in the first half, a jumper by sophomore Jerome Petty tied the game at 19-19. Freshman Yanni Gray then made two free throws to give the Bloodhounds their first lead of the contest. The next eight minutes went back-and-forth as there were four lead changes. John Jay ended the period on a 6-0 run to lead 32-28. 

Two free throws by Levy increased the lead to six to open the second half. The visitors followed on a 5-0 run but John Jay responded on a 9-0 run, capped off by a three-point play by Hayes, to go up 45-35 with 14:52 left to go. Five minutes later, the Blue Angels cut the deficit to five. With the Bloodhounds leading 60-55 with 7:20 on the clock, New Rochelle went on a 7-1 run to hold a 62-61 advantage. Two minutes later, Epps made a layup to cut the lead down to 64-63. However, the Blue Angels scored five straight points to hold on for a 79-71 non-conference win. 

John Jay went 22-for-55 (40.0%) from the field, 2-for-22 (9.1%) from behind the arc, and 24-for-60 (62.5%) from the free throw line. 

The Bloodhounds host Medgar Evers on Friday, February, at 8:00 pm at the Doghouse. The game will be live streamed at www.johnjayathletics.com/watch.