JAMAICA, N.Y. - A gritty comeback was all for naught on Friday night as the visiting Lehman Lightning was assessed two technical fouls during the game's final seconds, leading to a wild 74-70 loss at the hands of the York Cardinals to drop to 9-9 overall and 5-2 in the City University of New York Athletic Conference.

With the game tied at 70 following a tying basket by York's Shamir Wilkinson with 35 seconds remaining, the Lightning held for the last shot.  As the game clock ticked down Phil Ductan made his move to the basket only to have his shot turned away by Wilkinson, who then retrieved the loose ball and was fouled with 0.5 seconds left in regulation.  Disagreement from the Lehman sideline led to two technical fouls being assessed, giving York four more free throw attempts in addition to the two already owed Wilkinson.

York would make four of the six freebees to provide the winning margin.

The end game craziness overshadowed an otherwise stirring comeback from 11 down by Lehman in the second half.  Trailing 56-45 after Tony Vail's basket for York, the Lightning chipped away behind clutch shooting from Mathias Raggiotto and company.  A free throw by Sebastian Pessoa with 10:30 remaining began the Lehman charge, which was capped by Ductan's cold-blooded three-pointer with 1:08 left giving the Lightning a 70-68 lead.

Down the stretch, Raggiotto tallied 11 points with George Nimmons and Sebastian Pessoa also chipping in big baskets.

For the game Raggiotto poured in a game-high 28 points on 10-of-29 shooting, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.  He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.  Counting his late-game three-pointer, Ductan finished with 13 points and six assists.  Sophomore Kelvin Gil added 10 points.

Lehman will have a few days to shake off the defeat before returning to action on January 25 when the team hosts the College of Staten Island at Borough of Manhattan Community College.