The Baruch College Bearcats shot 51.9 percent (23-for-45) to defeat the Lightning of Lehman College, 69-58, in a rescheduled CUNYAC contest played on Sunday afternoon in the Bronx.
The visiting Bearcats improve their record to 16-6 overall and 12-3 in the CUNYAC, while the Lightning drop to 7-17 overall and 2-13 in the CUNYAC.
Edward Roscigno hit a 3-pointer with 13:37 left in the first half to give the Bearcats an early 9-6 lead. They would not relinquish that advantage the rest of the game.
They built up an eight point lead (36-28) at halftime and started the second half with eight straight points for a 46-28 advantage behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Raymond De La Cruz and a layup by Brian McMahon.
The Lightning could only get as close as nine points in the final minute to suffer the home defeat in a game postponed on Friday by Winter Storm Nemo.
Brian McMahon was named the John Conboy Memorial MVP after totaling 13 points by shooting 6-of-9 from the field. He also added seven rebounds on the defensive end.
The MVP Memorial Award is in honor of John Conboy, who played three years for Baruch and his senior year for Lehman during the early part of the 1970s. He later served as Head Coach for the Baruch women's basketball team during the 1984-86 seasons.
Conboy passed away, but is still fondly remembered by alumni and friends of the two schools. As a result, the two teams honor John with this annual award given to the top player during the second regular season game played between the two men's teams.
McMahon received the award in the presence of Baruch Athletic Director Ray Rankis and Conboy's two children: John Jr. and Sara.
Raymond De La Cruz also scored 13 points in the victory, while Matas Rascius scored 10 points (3-3 fg) and grabbed four rebounds to help the team end a two-game losing streak.
Granville Gittens narrowly missed a double-double with nine points, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Driton Hasangjekaj led the home team Lightning with 17 points (7-11 fg).
Baruch will return to action on Tuesday, February 12, with a 7:30 CUNYAC home contest on Senior Night against the Cougars of Medgar Evers College.