The Baruch College Bearcats won their third straight game with a 65-62 victory over the Hunter College Hawks on Wednesday night at the Hunter Sportsplex.

The visiting Bearcats (10-8, 6-3 CUNYAC) led the entire first half shooting 48 percent (12-for-25) from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw for a comfortable 36-23 halftime advantage. They also applied solid defensive pressure to force the Hawks to shoot 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

The start of the second half was a different story for both teams.

The Hawks (7-10, 3-6 CUNYAC) scored the first 17 points in dramatic fashion to excite the home crowd to take a 40-36 lead with exactly 15:00 minutes left.

That set up a tight contest the rest of the game as the two teams exchanged leads and were tied four different times.

Granville Gittens scored two baskets and Edward Roscigno added a driving layup to give the Bearcats a late 56-50 advantage with 5:12 left.

That 6-0 run proved pivotal as the Bearcats stayed comfortably ahead until a late 3-pointer by Hunter with eight seconds left put the score at 65-62.

The Hawks had another chance to tie the game in the final seconds with a 3-pointer, but it fell short to hand the Bearcats the important regular season road win.

Gittens led the Bearcats with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Matas Rascius had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Raymond De La Cruz rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points. Roscigno finished with seven points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

The bench outscored the Hawks' bench by a 32-6 margin.

The men's basketball team will continue their conference schedule on Friday night with a 7:00 pm CUNYAC contest uptown at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This CUNYAC doubleheader, with the women starting at 5:00 pm, will be available via live video.