NEW YORK, N.Y. - The sixth seeded Lehman College men's basketball team knocked off #3 Baruch College in the Quarterfinals of the CUNY Athletic Conference Basketball Championships on Saturday evening, 68-60. The Lightning will now face #2 the Cardinals of York College in the Semifinals held at the City College of New York, on Tuesday February 25. York defeated #7 John Jay, 63-55, earlier in the day Saturday.

After missing the CUNYAC Championships a year ago, the Lightning (14-12) are now just two wins away from capturing the CUNYAC Championship, claiming the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in the process. "I'm really proud of our guys and the coaching staff," Lehman head coach, Steve Schulman said. "We all worked hard to really improve and worked hard recruiting."

It was a defensive battle in the first half as both teams contested every shot. With Lehman down by one, senior guard Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) drove through the paint and laid the ball up and in to put the Lightning up, 14-13, with 10:43 left to play in the opening half. Sophomore guard Edwin Diaz (City Island, N.Y./Westside) followed up with a layup of his own to give Lehman a 16-13 advantage, their largest lead of the half.

With two seconds left in the first stanza, and Lehman up 26-24, the Bearcats were able to tie the game on a Joshua Vital layup and both teams went into the locker room, even at 26 points apiece.

In the second half, Lehman came out sluggish as the Bearcats (14-12) scored the first six points to go up, 32-26. Lehman sophomore forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) and his team did not lose their composure despite the tough start. "When they went on that run, we just stayed positive," said the Second Team CUNYAC All-Star. "We are a good offensive team so if we played good defense, we would go on a run."

The Lightning were able to settle down on defense, forcing some stops, and Jones sparked the Lightning offensively. He laid the ball in to cut the deficit to four. Then on the next offensive possession, Jones nailed a three-point basket to cut Lehman's deficit to one, 32-31, with 16:39 left in regulation.

After Baruch went back up by six, the Lightning exploded for an 8-0 run, capped off by Diaz going through the paint on a fast break, scoring the basket and drawing the foul. He was able to add the free throw to complete the traditional three point play to put Lehman up, 41-39, less than 10 minutes remaining.

After the Bearcats tied the game yet again, Gil drew a foul and capitalized on two free-throw opportunities to give Lehman a narrow 45-43 lead with 8:19 to go in the second half. This time, Lehman kept the lead for good, and junior guard Jonathan Greenfield (Hartford, Conn./Windsor) extended the lead by hitting a key bucket from downtown to put Lehman up, 48-43, their largest lead of the game at that point.

The Lightning were able to extend their lead as Gil hit two more free throws to put Lehman up by double digits with 1:34 remaining in the game. The Lightning ended up winning the game, 68-60.

Jones and Greenfield each had a double-double for the Lightning. Jones tallied 16 points and 14 rebounds while Greenfield scored 13 points and grabbed 13 boards. Gil also reached double figures with 14 points and dished out five assists. Senior guard Stanley Stephens (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center) and Diaz each added nine points while junior guard Marty Arzu (Bronx, N.Y./Fannie Lou Hamer) scored seven.

Lehman will now take on York College in the Semifinals of the CUNYAC Championships held at CCNY. The Cardinals won both meetings over the Lightning during the regular season. Jones believes that the Lightning's effort today could give them momentum for their game against the Cardinals. "We just have to do the same thing we did today," Jones said. "To beat a team like York, you need to play good defense and some smart offense." Schulman also has confidence in his team, "When we played York at home, we played really well," Schulman said. "We had a chance to beat them." The game will be played on Tuesday, February 25, at 8:00 p.m.

#1 Staten Island will face #5 Hunter College in the other Semifinal matchup, at 6:00 p.m.

http://www.lehmanathletics.com/news/2014/2/22/MBB_0222140734.aspx