The men's basketball team lost a tough conference tilt to Medgar Evers College, 74-73, on Monday night at the Doghouse. The Bloodhounds drop to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the CUNY Athletic Conference. The Cougars improve to 4-10 and 3-3 in the conference. 

Senior Essien Epps led the offense with a game-high 22 points, shooting 7-for-11 and 3-for-5 from deep, to go along with nine rebounds. Senior Jordan Aiken came off the bench to ignite the offense by recording a season-high 11 points and four rebounds.

As usual, junior Doug Levy picked up a double-double, his fifth straight and 10th of the season, with 15 points, a game-high 14 boards, and a game-high two blocks. Sophomore Romello Ford registered 11 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. Senior Jerome Petty added 12 points off the bench. 

With John Jay leading 5-4, Medgar Evers went on a 7-0 run to lead by six with 15:09 left in the opening half. Down by six, Aiken sank a three-pointer but the guests followed on a 10-2 run to increase their advantage to 24-13 with 10:00 left. 

Levy responded with a dunk and three free-throws by Epps and Aiken cut the deficit to three. With 6:35 remaining, Levy hit a layup to trail 26-23 but the Cougars followed with three points to go back up by six. 

Petty drained a late three-pointer but the Bloodhounds were down 41-35 heading into halftime. 

John Jay scored the first nine points of the second as Epps had five and Ford with four. Leading by two, Levy and Epps started an 8-0 run to go up 60-50 with 9:53 on the clock. 

Three minutes later and Medgar Evers trailing by eight, the visitors scored seven straight but a layup by Levy ended the run. With 1:54 remaining, the Cougars converted on a three-point play to go up 72-70.  

Petty connected on a three-throw and a jumper by Epps put John Jay ahead by one with 1:06 left. Down by one, Medgar Evers' Justin Sutton made a fadeaway with four seconds remaining as the Bloodhounds called a timeout. 

Sophomore Eric Pujols threw a half-court pass to Levy who found Epps behind the arc. The senior got a clean look but the shot bounced off the rim as time expired. 

John Jay went 23-for-58 (39.7%) from the field, 8-for-21 (38.1%) from behind the arc, and 19-for-24 (79.2%) from the free-throw line. 

The Bloodhounds are back at it on Wednesday, January 9, when they head to York College for a CUNYAC game at 7:30 pm.