New York, NY---Led by a career-high 42 points from senior guard Egzon Gjonbalaj, the Brooklyn men's basketball team improved to 6-2 in the CUNYAC and 12-3 overall with tonight's 96-89 win at Hunter.  The Hawks drop to 1-6 in the conference and 1-15 overall.  BC will be back on the court on Sunday at Keystone (PA).  

Up two points with just under a minute left in the game, the Bulldogs made the necessary stops and knocked down five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 17 points with 14:49 left in the game before the Hawks chipped away at BC's until the final minute.  

Both teams battled through the first fifteen minutes of the game with neither team taking more than a two-possession lead.  Junior guard Chris McIllhatton would change that, popping a three that would give the Bulldogs a 40-33 advantage with 3:32 left in the first half.  He would hit another three-pointer at the 1:50 mark, helping the Bulldogs to an eight point lead.  McIllhatton finished with eleven points off of the bench including 3-4 from "downtown".   BC closed out the first half with a 9-0 run giving them the 51-37 halftime lead.  

The focus of the evening would be Gjonbalaj's offensive performance.  He would shoot 14-28 from the floor including 6-13 from beyond the arc, and connect on 8 of 11 attempts from the charity stripe.  Senior forward Lorenzo Williams also finished the game with a standout scoring performance finishing with 25 points.  Senior guard Jamel Gist rounded out starter double-digit scoring with 14 points.  

Gjonbalaj also led the Bulldogs on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds on the evening.  

The Bulldogs shot 52.2% as a team for the game.  

Matt Franks led the Hawks with 24 points.