The men's basketball team lost to Hunter College, 79-72, on Friday night at the Hunter Sportsplex. The Bloodhounds fall to 8-7 on the year and 3-4 in CUNYAC. The Hawks improve to 4-11 and 2-6 in the conference.

Senior Essien Epps recorded his second double-double of the season with 20 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. He now has 1,562 career points and trails only Greg Andrew (1,565) to become the all-time scoring leader in John Jay College history. 

Junior Doug Levy also poured in 20 points to go along with eight boards, a game-high five blocks, and three assists. Senior Jordan Aiken drained five three-pointers to finished with 15. Sophomore Romello Ford finished with nine points and a team-high six assists. 

Hunter started the contest on a 5-0 run but a three by Petty and a layup by Levy tied the game. Down by four, Ford hit a three and a monster dunk by Levy gave the Bloodhounds a 12-11 lead with 12:40 left in the first half.

The Hawks regained the lead but back-to-back three-pointers by Epps put John Jay ahead by five. With just under seven minutes remaining, the game was tied at 21 apiece. 

The Bloodhounds went into halftime holding a 33-32 advantage. 

Three minutes into the second, the hosts took a 42-37 lead. A three-pointer by Aiken cut the deficit to two but Hunter responded with three straight three-pointers. Another three by Aiken ended the run and trimmed the lead to eight with 13:02 on the clock. 

With the Bloodhounds down by 11, the guests fought back on a 10-0 run with 4:37 remaining. Two free-throws by Epps put the Bloodhounds up by one. The Hawks followed with four straight with three minutes left. 

Holding a two-point lead with just under a minute on the clock, the Hawks sealed the victory with five straight points. 

John Jay finished 26-for-65 (40.0%) from the field, 10-for-32 (31.3%) from behind the arc, and 10-for-14 (71.4%) from the free-throw line. 

The Bloodhounds head back to the Doghouse to host Brooklyn College on Wednesday, January 16, for a conference game at 8:00 pm. The game will be live streamed at www.johnjayathletics.com/watch.