Wednesday night in the Bronx brought the perfect confluence of events for Steve Schulman's Lehman Lightning as it looked to even its record for the season.

Struggling opponent? Check. The St. Joseph's Bears entered the game searching for answers having lost four of their last five games.

Blowout loss by the Lightning in its last game? Check. The Lightning was on the wrong end of Monday night's 84-53 loss to New Jersey City University and looking for revenge.

Now, add both those factors together.

The result? A convincing 82-50 win by the Lightning and the ability to savor a victory before returning to the court on Sunday.

Against St. Joseph's, as has been the case in several of the Lightning's wins this season, the three-pointer was key. With Lehman holding the early 9-8 advantage, Quaseem Weems, arguably the purest three-point shooter on the team, knocked down triples on back to back possessions. Four minutes later, Samuel Batista dialed long distance, drilling a three-pointer to push the Lightning lead to 22-10. He followed that up by canning a jumper on the next trip down court, forcing St. Joseph's head coach Joseph Cocozello to call timeout.

The Bears eventually pulled to within eight, 28-20, with 4:10 remaining on a three-point basket by Jan Rogowski. But an 11-0 run to close the half, highlighted by transition baskets by Patryk Odedina and Daniel Rock, was the straw that broke the camel's back for St. Joe's, as Lehman took a commanding 39-20 lead into the locker room.

Lehman poured it on in the second half. At one point following two free throws by Rock, the Lightning led by 34 points, 69-35, allowing Coach Schulman to happily empty his bench with the game in hand.

On the night the Lightning commanded the paint area, outrebounding the Bears 56-42 while blocking seven shots, three by Jonathan DeJesus. DeJesus also finished one point shy of a double-double, scoring nine points to go along with his 11 rebounds. Chukwuma Ndukwe was a presence inside during his 16 minutes of action, especially during the opening minutes of the game when he slammed down an emphatic dunk.

Batista, CUNYAC's reigning Player of the Week, posted 17 points and six rebounds while Weems came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points, primarily from downtown (4-for-7 on three-point field goals).

Lehman is back in action on Sunday afternoon as part of the third annual CUNY Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball Classic, when it takes on SUNYIT. The game is one of seven contests featured during the weekend's basketball bonanza being held at Lehman College.