NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Baruch College, 72-70, in CUNY Athletic Conference action on Thursday evening. The Lightning fall to 9-4 in CUNYAC play, while the Bearcats remain undefeated in the conference at 12-0.

With 16 seconds left to play in regulation, and Lehman down 71-69, junior guard Olando Minott (Bronx, N.Y./Samuel Gompers) drew a foul to earn a trip to the free throw line. He nailed the first shot to pull the Lightning within one, but the second one bounced off the rim and Baruch was able to secure the rebound. Junior forward Chaun Miller (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eleanor Roosevelt) intentionally picked up a foul.

After Granville Gittens of Baruch made the first foul shot, he missed the second and junior forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) grabbed the rebound, prompting Lehman to call a timeout with eight seconds left. The Lightning still had a chance to either tie or win the game, but Miller's three-point attempt at the buzzer missed, and Baruch's undefeated streak in the conference was kept alive.

In the first half, the Lightning fell behind by nine. However, the tide began to change when Miller tallied a three-point basket that started a 10-0 run for the Lightning, capped off by two free throws from freshman guard John Brens (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows) to give Lehman a 25-24 lead, with just over five minutes left in the opening half.

After Baruch regained the lead, 27-25, Miller nailed another shot from beyond the arc to put the Lightning back on top, 28-27, with 4:10 remaining in the first half. The Brooklyn native continued his hot shooting by successfully executing a jump shot to propel Lehman to its largest lead of the game, 32-27, with 2:01 to go until halftime. Baruch managed to close the gap and shrink Lehman's lead to 37-35 going into the intermission.

In the second half, Baruch opened up the game and went back up by eight. However, Lehman would battle back in front of the raucous crowd, by going on a 17-9 run to tie the game at 66, with 2:30 left to play. That would set up a thrilling finish to the game that ended with Lehman suffering a gut-wrenching, hard-fought loss.

Miller led the way with a game-high 20 points, and shot 4-6 from three-point range. Minott added 17 points of his own, while Jones scored 11 and grabbed eight boards. Brens dished out five assists and forced three steals.

The Lightning will have another CUNYAC game on Tuesday, against Hunter College in the APEX Main Gym, at 5:00 p.m.