BRONX, N.Y. - The Lehman College men's basketball team started the home season off in grand fashion, cruising past The New School, 98-34, at the APEX on Thursday night. The Lightning are now 2-2 and have won two of the last three games.
Lehman never trailed in the contest. The Blue and Gold scored the first 14-points of the contest and 32 out of the first 34. The Lightning's defense was aggressive, forcing five steals within the first 2:32 of the game.
Sophomore big man Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) was on fire early as he laid the ball in the bucket to score the game's first two points, and put Lehman in the lead for good. He nailed a three-pointer to put Lehman up 7-0.
With 2:30 left in the first half, junior Brandon Stolz (Bronx, N.Y./ Truman) hit a shot from beyond the arc to put Lehman up by 40, the largest lead of the half.
Lehman's defense was even stronger in the second half as the Narwals (0-3) didn't score for the first 3:59. The Lightning held The New School to just nine points in the entire second half.
At the 16:36 mark of the second stanza, Stolz stole the ball and fed it to senior Stanley Stephens (New York, N.Y./ Manhattan Center) who dribbled down the court and dunked the ball to put his team up by 41.
The Lightning scored the game's final 24 points as The New School was held scoreless for the last 9:47.
Lehman was firing on all cylinders as the team shot 59.1% from the field. The Blue and Gold scored 52 points in the paint, made nine three-point field goals, and had 49 points from the bench.
The Lightning had all 14 players score during the game. Jones scored a game-high 14 points, as Stolz produced 10 points and had a game-high five steals. Senior Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and Stephens each chipped in with 10 points. Junior Kevan Proctor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grand Street Campus) paced Lehman with eight rebounds.
Lehman will be back in action on Tuesday, November 26, for a double-header with the women against Medgar Evers College to start off CUNY Athletic Conference play. The men are scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m.