BRONX, N.Y. - The Lehman College men's basketball team was able to fight off a second half rally by Hunter, to earn a CUNY Athletic Conference victory, 61-60, in the APEX Main Gym on Tuesday evening. Lehman moves to 10-4 in conference play, while Hunter falls to 5-10 in CUNYAC games.

The Lightning were up 61-60 with eight seconds remaining, and Hunter having possession of the ball with a chance to win. Junior forward Chaun Miller (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eleanor Roosevelt) was able to intercept the ball through traffic, just prior to the buzzer sounding, to clinch the victory for the Lightning.  

Junior guard Olando Minott (Bronx, N.Y./Samuel Gompers) led the way for the Lightning with 16 points and shot 7-9 from the field. Senior guard Jonathan Greenfield (Hartford, Conn./Windsor)  scored 14 points and shot 60 percent for the evening. Freshman guard Andrew Utate (Washington Heights, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) produced 13 points and had four assists.

Early in the game, the Lightning set the tone by scoring 20 of the game's first 26 points, highlighted by Minott laying the ball up and in, while being fouled. He hit the free throw to put Lehman up 20-4, with 10:35 left to play in the opening half. He capped off Lehman's run by nailing a jump shot to put the home team up by 14, with 9:46 left to go in the first stanza. Greenfield, junior forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon), and Minott combined to score all of Lehman's first 20 points of the game.

Both teams went into the locker rooms with the Lightning up 39-24.

In the second half, Greenfield hit a pair of free throws to give Lehman its largest lead of the game, 43-24, with 19:35 left to play in regulation. The Hawks would quickly turn momentum into their favor by scoring the game's next 13 points, in less than three minutes, to pull within six.

With 6:42 left to play, the Lightning all of a sudden found themselves trailing by one, 53-52. With Hunter in possession of the ball, Miller forced a steal and fed the ball to Utate, who converted a layup on a fast break, while being fouled. He hit the free throw to give Lehman the lead for good, 55-53, with 5:59 remaining.

That would set up a tight finish down the stretch, as the Lightning's defensive stand in the closing seconds helped them earn the one-point win.

Jones scored eight points and dished out six assists. Miller grabbed eight rebounds and forced three steals, including his third one that gave Lehman the victory in the final seconds. Junior guard Edwin Diaz (Washington Heights, N.Y./Norman Thomas) added four points off the bench.

The Lightning will return to the APEX Main Gym on Friday, against York College, in a critical CUNY Athletic Conference game on Senior Night. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.