By: John Jay Sports Information
Box Score Trailing 38-23 at the half, the men's basketball team opened the second half on a 24-3 run as the #5 Bloodhounds upset #4 Hunter College, 88-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Hunter Sportsplex. The Hawks end their season with an overall record of 12-14.
"What a fun game that was," head coach
Ryan Hyland said. "I'm so proud of our guys poise and their ability to overcome adversity."
Five Bloodhounds finished in double-figures. Junior
Essien Epps led all John Jay scorers with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and a game-high five steals. Senior
Eric Sandoval Jr. finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points, a game-high nine boards, and three assists. Sophomore
Doug Levy recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high two blocks. Junior
Jerome Petty registered 13 points and six assists. Senior
MiKing Richardson had 11 points. Freshman
Kyle LaGuardia came off the bench to add nine points and four boards.
Richardson opened the scoring with a three-pointer and two free-throws by Petty gave the Bloodhounds an early 5-0 lead. Hunter followed with seven straight points until Levy tied the game with a layup.
Leading 16-15, the Hawks went on a 15-0 run to break open the period with 4:51 remaining in the first half. John Jay closed the gap and at the half, the Bloodhounds trailed 38-23.
"The locker room at halftime was a strange place, but there wasn't a guy in there who didn't think we were going to win the game," added Hyland.
A layup by Hunter to start the second increased their advantage to 17. The Bloodhounds went to work as John Jay scored five straight to cut the deficit to 12.
With the score 43-28, the Bloodhounds tightened up their defense and scored 19 straight points to go on a 25-3 run to lead 53-46 with 12:55 left on the clock.
The hosts chipped at the lead and one minute later, cut it down to 53-51. Epps then made a jumper and Aiken and Epps hit back-to-back three-pointers to increase the advantage back up to 10.
Trailing by 11, Hunter went on a 5-0 run but freshman
Matt Hudzik made two free-throws with 6:04 left. With just under one minute remaining, the Hawks were able to cut the deficit to six. However, the Bloodhounds knocked down their next seven free-throws to complete the comeback and upset Hunter by a final score of 88-77.
"Our guys did a great job of adjusting on the fly, and playing for each other," Hyland said.
John Jay finished 28-for-57 (49.1%) from the field, 7-for-17 (41.2%) from behind the arc, and 25-for-32 (78.1%) from the charity stripe,
The Bloodhounds will now take on the top seeded Lehman College on Tuesday, February 20, at 6:00 pm at the Nat Holman Gymnasium (City College).
"We're excited to get a chance to see Lehman again, Steve (Schulman) has those guys playing great and we look forward to the challenge," Hyland added.
Postseason Schedule:
Saturday, February 17th – Men's First Round
#3 Staten Island 74 vs. #6 Brooklyn 73
#5 John Jay 88, #4 Hunter 77
Tuesday, February 20th – Men's Semifinals
6:00 pm : #1 Lehman vs. #5 John Jay
8:00 pm : #2 Baruch vs. #3 Staten Island
Friday, February 23rd – Men's Championship
8:30 pm : Championship
