The Baruch College Bearcats shot 50 percent in the second half to defeat the Cardinals of York College, 77-60, in a CUNYAC Championship semifinal contest on Wednesday night in the ARC Arena.

The second-seeded Bearcats will play top-seeded Lehman College on Friday with tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium. Please note no outside spectators will be allowed at Friday night's final. The game will be streamed on the CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) facebook page.

The Bearcats led throughout a majority of the contest this evening, but took control midway through the second half with a 7-0 run to go from a 53-47 lead to a 60-47 advantage with 8:49 left.

They maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way for the chance to play in their fifth CUNYAC championship game in seven years.

The defense came up big limiting the Cardinals to just 29 percent (18-for-62) shooting, while also scoring 16 points off 15 turnovers.

York relied on the three, but only connected on 5-of-30 attempts.

Adnan Bajrami led the way scoring 20 points, while Emil Purisic owned the paint with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.

Michael Richards and Sean Donnellan each had 10 points in the electric home win. Mohamed Gueye came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds.

Quran Dublin was tops for the visitors with 26 points.