The #3 men's basketball team fought back all night long but loss to #2 College of Staten Island, 70-57, in the CUNYAC Semifinals on Thursday night in Staten Island, NY. 

Senior Essien Epps led the way with a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Junior Doug Levy fell two points shy of a double-double with eight points and a game-high 14 boards. 

Sophomores Kyle LaGuardia and Romello Ford combined for 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. 

Staten Island started the contest scoring eight of the first 10 points but a 7-0 run, capped off by a three from Epps, gave the Bloodhounds their first lead. Leading by two, CSI scored five straight to go up 21-14 with 9:06 left in the first half. 

John Jay used three-pointers by senior Jerome Petty, Epps, and Ford and a layup by LaGuardia to ignite an 11-0 run as the Bloodhounds jumped ahead 27-23. The Dolphins responded with back-to-back three-pointers to take a two-point advantage with 2:26 remaining in the period. 

Down by three, Epps made a tough driving layup as time expired to trim the deficit to 36-35 at the half.

Three minutes into the third, CSI extended its lead to eight. Epps responded with another three-pointer but CSI followed with eight straight points with 13:18 left to go. 

Trailing by 15, John Jay put together seven straight capped off by a jumper from senior Jordan Aiken. Two minutes later, the Dolphins climbed their advantage back up to 12. Epps went to work as the wing drained two straight shots from behind the arc. Levy then sank two free-throws and a jumper by Epps closed the gap to 59-57 with 4:10 remaining. 

Unfortunately, the hosts closed out the game with the final 11 points to advance to the championship game on Friday against #1 Baruch College. 

The Bloodhounds will now await to see if they qualify for the ECAC postseason tournament.