Bronx, NY - The No. 5 seed and defending CUNYAC champions, the John Jay men's basketball team fell to the top-seed Lehman College, 85-60, in the semifinals on Wednesday evening.

With the loss, the Bloodhounds end the year 10-17 overall and 7-7 in CUNYAC play. The Lightning advance to Thursday's title game against No. 6 CCNY with a 20-6 record, including 14-0 in league play.

Senior guard Jamir Stewart was the only Bloodhound in double figures, finishing with 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting and 7-of-9 from the line. Amare Jordan and Alsseny Diallo each had nine points while Keyshawn Miller finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Five Lehman players finished in double-figures, led by Kesean Tracey, who led all scorers with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field and a 3 of 5 display from the outside. He added six rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes of play.
Tyler Harts added 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting. Amar Ndiaye was a rebound shy of a double-double, ending the game with 15 points and nine rebounds. Ricardo Dixon chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds while Zay Marte scored ten points.

The Lightning jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Stewart scored the first John Jay basket. Aidony Nivar tied the game five before Miller drilled a mid-range jumper to give the Bloodhounds their first lead of the contest. From there, John Jay outscored Lehman, 10-7, capped by a three-pointer from Adrian Kopec as the visitors led 17-12 at the 11:39 mark.
The Lightning closed out the half, outscoring John Jay 23-17, and taking a 35-34 halftime lead as Harts made a layup just before time expired.

When play resumed, Harts started the scoring for Lehman with a jumper before Jordan responded with a three-pointer to tie the game at 37. The Lightning increased its lead to 60-48 at the 10:33 mark on the strength of a 23-11 run in which Lehman converted 10 of 14 from the field while hitting 3 of 4 from the outside. Kopec hit another three-pointer to cut the deficit to ten, 63-53, with 8:48 remaining. 

It would be the closest the Bloodhounds got as Lehman closed out the contest on a 22-7 run to secure the win.

For the game, the Bloodhounds shot 32.7 percent from the field while Lehman converted 56.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three-point range.
John Jay was outrebounded 41-26 and 31-18 on the defensive glass. The Lightning outscored the Bloodhounds, 42-16, in points in the paint.