NEW YORK, N.Y.— The John Jay men's basketball team has punched its ticket into the 2013 City University of New York Athletic Conference / Con Edison men's basketball championship game after a 73-62  win over Baruch College in the semifinal round on Thursday evening.
 
The victory by the Bloodhounds marks the fourth time in conference history John Jay has earned the right to play in CUNYAC's grand game, and the first time since 2008 when John Jay won its lone title.
 
Balanced scoring highlighted the Bloodhounds' night as four players scored in double figures, including Isaiah Holman who had a team-high 15 points, followed by Jamar Harry with 13 and nine rebounds. Kris Owens added 12 points for John Jay, while Darryl Dennis had 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Baruch was led by Joshua Vital with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Bloodhounds never trailed in the contest. With the score tied 6-6 in the opening stages, John Jay went on a 9-2 run to establish a 15-8 lead with seven and a half minutes gone by. The Bloodhounds coasted most of the first half and led by as much as 19 in the latter stages of the stanza. John Jay led 37-19 with 2:36 to play in the first half before going into halftime ahead 39-23.
 
In the second half,  Baruch grinded the Bloodhound lead away slowly and got its deficit to single digits as Baruch was within nine and trailed 47-38 with 10:35 to play.
 
The Bloodhounds though used a 6-2 spurt to go back ahead by 14. A continuation three point play by Gary Brady, who had seven points, at the 10:23 mark, followed by a three point field goal by Owens with 9:39 to go highlighted the run.
 
Baruch though countered with a 5-0 run to get the lead back to nine as John Jay was ahead 53-44 with 8:35 to play.
 
From there, John Jay kept the Bearcats at an arms length distance for a majority of the second half. The Bloodhounds went back up to lead by as much as 11, while Baruch narrowed it to as little as nine during a four minute window (from 8:35 to 4:02).
 
The Bearcats managed to claw closer and cut the lead to six with 2:26 to play after a lay-up by Raymond De La Cruz.
 
But the Bloodhounds, who did not attempt a single field goal over the final 4:49, connected on clutch free throws down the stretch to preserve the lead. John Jay went 13-for-18 over the final 2:19 to prevent any Bearcat comeback.
 
Meanwhile, Baruch missed seven of its final 10 field goal attempts, hurting its cause.
 
John Jay built its lead back to as much as 14 in the final minute before punching its ticket to the championship game.