BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's basketball team earned a hard-fought CUNY Athletic Conference victory over Brooklyn College, 81-78, in the APEX Main Gym on Wednesday evening. The Lightning have now won four games in a row, all of them in CUNYAC play, and are now tied with the Bulldogs for third place in the latest CUNYAC standings.
"Guys showed a lot of heart and toughness tonight," Lightning head coach Steve Schulman said. It was a tight game throughout the second half, as the Lightning (13-7, 8-3 CUNYAC) held a narrow 74-73 lead, with 2:33 left to play. Senior guard Jonathan Greenfield(Hartford, Conn./Windsor) gave the home team a little more breathing room by taking a feed from junior forward Chaun Miller(Brooklyn, N.Y./Eleanor Roosevelt), and laying the ball up and in off a fast-break, to extend Lehman's lead to three, with less than two minutes to go. After the Bulldogs (16-4, 8-3 CUNYAC) cut Lehman's advantage to two, the home team would once again have the answer as Miller successfully converted a jump shot in the paint, to put Lehman up 78-74, with 1:15 remaining.
After Miller nailed a pair of free throws to extend the Lightning's lead to 79-74, the Bulldogs scored four quick points to put Lehman in a very familiar position, up by a point, with 21 seconds remaining. The Lightning responded by using their speed as junior forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) threw a long pass to Greenfield, who converted another layup off a fast-break, to give Lehman an 81-78 lead, with 18 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs attempted a three-point shot in the closing seconds but it was blocked by Miller. After getting an offensive rebound, Brooklyn attempted another shot from beyond the arc, but the ball rimmed off and was grabbed by Miller, who was immediately fouled afterwards, with one second remaining. After he missed the free throw, the Bulldogs had one more chance but could not get the shot off before the final buzzer, as Lehman earned its eight conference victory of the season. "They earned that win by being scrappy and making plays when we needed them," Schulman said. "It was a great team effort tonight."
Earlier in the second half, with the game tied at 57, Greenfield's jumper put Lehman in the lead for good, 59-57, with 10:49 remaining. Just over five minutes later, Miller successfully attacked the basket to give Lehman its largest lead of the game, 71-64. The Bulldogs would have a rally of their own, to keep the game close in the last four minutes of the game. However, the Lightning would always have an answer for every basket Brooklyn made. Lehman would not allow the opposition to tie or take the lead at any point in the last 10 minutes of the contest.
In the game's opening minutes, the Lightning came out sluggish as Brooklyn jumped out to an early 18-9 lead, with 10:38 left to play in the opening half. Lehman flipped a switch by going on a 10-0 run, in a span of just over two minutes, capped off by a three-point basket from junior guard Olando Minott (Bronx, N.Y./Samuel Gompers), to give Lehman its first lead of the game, 19-18, with 8:35 remaining in the first stanza.
With 5:16 left in the first period, the Bulldogs rallied to take a six-point lead, 29-23. Lehman once again showed its resiliency by scoring the game's next nine points, capped off by a layup from Greenfield, to take a 32-29 lead, with 2:17 left to play in the first half. Both teams went into the locker rooms with Lehman up 38-34, which set the stage for a hard-fought second half played by both teams.
Greenfield led all scorers with 26 points. Minott added 18 points with nine rebounds. Miller produced a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while adding 4 blocks. Jones scored 15 points, while freshman guard John Brens (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows) dished out a game-high nine assists.
The Lightning will be back in action on Friday for a CUNY Athletic Conference game at CCNY. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.