New York, NY --- The #2 seed Brooklyn College Bulldogs used a thrilling second half comeback knock off the #3 seed Lehman College Lightning in the semifinals round of the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Men's Basketball Championships, presented by Army ROTC, on Wednesday night at Nat Holman Gymnasium on the campus of The City College of New York (CCNY).

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 22-5 overall on the season and advance to the championship final on Friday, February 27^th at 8:30 pm at Nat Holman Gym at CCNY. Brooklyn will take on top seed Baruch in the final, as the winner will receive the CUNYAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships. The Bulldogs will be playing in their first conference final since 2010 and will look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.

Baruch narrowly escaped its semifinals match against #5 seed and reigning conference champion York College, 52-50; as Granville Gittens hit a jumper with two seconds remaining in the game to lift the Bearcats past the Cardinals and into to the championship final.

The CUNYAC Final will be shown live nationally online via ESPN3 for a second consecutive time. Admission to the game is free; however, tickets are required for entry. Click here to register for your free tickets.

Lehman falls to 18-9 with the loss.

The Lightning controlled the first half from the opening tip until the halftime buzzer, as Lehman looked to be in full control. The Lightning scored the first four points of the game and would eventually lead by as many as 14 on two occasions.

Trailing by 14, 30-16, with 9:48 remaining before the halftime horn, the Bulldogs would chip away at its deficit and get back into the game, using a 22-9 run to get to within one, 39-38, with just 2:04 left in the first half. Still leading by one, 41-40, with 1:24 left before the intermission break, Lehman would again begin to pull away, closing out the half on a 7-1 run to take a seven-point, 48-41, halftime advantage.

Jonathan Greenfield led Lehman with 16 first half points, while Chaun Miller and Jerrome Jones each added 12 points in the first period to help the Lightning maintain control throughout the first 20 minutes.

Valon Djombalic led BC with 14 points in the first half, as he surpassed the 1,000 career point plateau for his collegiate career that includes two seasons at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and Brooklyn College. His free throw at the 4:22 mark of the first half gave him his 1,000 career point. Egzon Gjonbalaj added 10 points in the first half to help keep the Bulldogs in the game.

The second half saw the Bulldogs step up their defensive intensity, as Brooklyn held Lehman to just 28.1% (9-for-32) shooting from the field, while BC shot 51.6% (16-for-31) in the second period to outscore the Lightning, 39-22, in the final half to complete its 80-70 comeback victory.

After Lehman's Olando Minott opened the scoring in the second half with his jumper that put the Lightning up nine, 50-41, with 18:54 left in the game; the Bulldogs staged their comeback attempt, surging out on a 23-3 run to take a commanding 11-point lead, 64-53, at the midway point of the second half. The run gave Brooklyn its first lead of the game and Brooklyn would never look back, as BC would go on to take home the 80-70 win.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was junior Lorenzo Williams, who scored 16 points in the second half en route to finishing the game with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Gjonbalaj scored 12 points in the second half to conclude the night with a team-high 22 points, while also pulling down 10 rebounds to register the double-double. Junior Jamel Gist also finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Djombalic finished the night with 16 points and seven rebounds.

For Lehman, Greenfield led all scorers with 29 points, to go with eight rebounds, while Miller finished the night with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jones finished up with 14 points and seven rebounds.

For the game, BC shot 48.5% (32-for-66) from the field, including 33.3% (5-for-15) from three. The Bulldogs also shot 52.4% (11-for-21) from the line.

Lehman shot 38.2% (29-for-76) from the field for the game, including 24% (6-for-25) from three. The Lightning also shot just 54.5% (6-for-11) from the charity stripe.