The men's basketball team earned a hard fought win against Stevenson University, 77-76, on Saturday afternoon in Stevenson, MD. The Bloodhounds improve to 7-5 overall. The Mustangs drop to 10-4. 

John Jay finished with four scorers in double figures. Senior Jerome Petty ignited the offense with a career-high and game-high 22 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the arc. Sophomore Romello Ford broke out with 18 points, a season-high and team-high seven assists, six rebounds, and a team-high two steals. 

Senior Essien Epps registered 18 points, four rebounds, and two blocks. The four-year player now has 1,505 career points and trails only Greg Andrew (1,565) for the program's all-time leader in points. 

Junior Doug Levy recorded 14 points, a game-high 14 boards, and a pair of blocks for his fourth straight double-double and ninth of the year. 

The Bloodhounds opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Petty and Levy. The first six minutes went back-and-forth as John Jay led 11-10. Layups by Levy and Ford increased the lead to five. 

Stevenson followed on a 7-0 run to regain the lead but Ford made a basket to tie the game at 17-17 with 9:53 left in the opening half. 

John Jay took the lead but once again the Mustangs tied the score. The Bloodhounds responded on a 9-2 run and a layup by Petty put John Jay ahead 38-29 with 3:42 left to go. 

Stevenson then went on an 8-0 run of their own to trail by one. Two free-throws by Epps gave the Bloodhounds a 44-40 advantage at the half. 

Petty opened the second period with another three-pointer and Levy followed with a layup to increase the lead back up to nine. The Mustangs responded with 11 straight points to give them their first lead of the half. 

The next seven minutes went back-and-forth as there were eight lead changes. With the score knotted at 65 apiece with 6:59 remaining, Petty drained a three to start a 7-0 run. An Epps layup increased the advantage to nine with 2:20 left to go but Stevenson rallied off six straight to trail by three with 59 seconds on the clock. 

Nine seconds later, the Mustangs made a layup to trail by one. Two huge defensive stands and a steal by Petty sealed the non-conference victory for the Bloodhounds.

John Jay finished 25-for-56 (44.6%) from the floor, an impressive 15-for-29 (51.7%) from behind the arc, and 12-for-16 (75.0%) from the charity stripe. 

The Bloodhounds return to CUNYAC play when they host Medgar Evers College on Monday, January 7, at 8:00 pm at the Doghouse. The game will be live streamed at www.johnjayathletics.com/watch.