Jan. 12, 2011

Box Score

There will be a point when watching the tape from Wednesday night's men's basketball game between Lehman and Baruch when Bearcats head coach Ray Rankis will just shake his head and wonder if what he is watching actually occurred.

That is what happens when a team shoots the way the Lightning did from the three-point line in its 85-68 win over Baruch in the Bronx that extended its winning streak to three games.

Lehman scorched the nets from deep throughout, shooting 58 percent (14-24), and always seemed to find a timely three-pointer to halt any momentum the Bearcats may have been building.

The home team's three-point prowess was on display early as Samuel Batista, Alain De La Cruz and Patryk Odedina each dialed long distance in the span of five Lehman possessions to give the Lightning the 16-7 lead. David Chestnut momentarily shortcircuited the Lightning's shooting spree with two baskets of his own before Jonathan DeJesus hit on another Lehman three-pointer for the 19-11 advantage.

After Chris Beauchamp's bucket cut the margin to five, Batista drilled back to back threes, the second of which came on excellent ball movement by Lehman, as the Lightning went up 27-15 with 6:55 to go. For good measure, DeJesus swished two more threes in the half's closing minutes as Lehman entered the break up 36-22. Twenty minutes in and the Lightning had shot an impressive 8-for-15 from beyond the arc.

And the three-point parade continued as the second half opened. Lehman's first possession out of the locker room ended with a triple from De La Cruz, and when George Nimmons got in on the action, the Lightning was ahead 44-24.

Chukwuma Ndukwe's dunk with 17:18 remaining got his teammates and the crowd fired up, but it also awoke the Bearcats. Baruch proceeded to run off nine straight points, capped by Beauchamp's bucket to pull within 11 at 46-35, and seemed poised to cut further into the deficit.

However, senior Victor Garcia, who had been dormant in the game thus far with no points, hit on a huge three to stop the bleeding for the Lightning. Garcia would go on to score 12 of the Lightning's next 15 points, including two more three-pointers, to build the Lehman lead back up to 65-49 with 6:48 remaining.

Baruch crept back to 13 once more at 69-56, but a jumper by Batista proceeded by another three-pointer from Garcia all but ended it.

After going scoreless through the game's first 26:30, Garcia would up the Lightning's leading scorer on the night as he exploded for 22 points (4-for-5 3-pt. FGs) the remainder of the second half. DeJesus added 21 points (3-for-6 3-pt. FGs) and Batista notched 16 points (3-for-4 3-pt. FGs). Batista and the Lightning also did an excellent job of holding Beauchamp, Baruch's go-to guy, to only seven first half points. De La Cruz ran the show efficiently for the Lightning, dishing out a season-high 12 assists.

Lehman is back in action on Friday night when it travels to Brooklyn to face Medgar Evers.