The Baruch College Bearcats defeated the Hawks of Hunter College, 72-54, in a CUNYAC home contest on Saturday afternoon in the ARC Arena.

The two rivals played a competitive opening 12 minutes, but the Bearcats took control by scoring 20 of the final 24 points to end the first half with a convincing 39-17 lead.

The Bearcats did not let up in the second half and led by as much as 33 points with 13:49 remaining.

The rival Hawks did not quietly and cut the lead to 16 points at 3:26.

The Bearcats never lost their composure and held on for the 72-54 win in front of their alumni who played earlier in the afternoon in their fun, yet at times competitive alumni game.

The bench alone outscored their visitors from uptown, 33-17, behind solid efforts from Alex Mattina (career-high 16 points), Dwayne Brydie (eight points) and Benjamin Boateng (six points, three rebounds).

Chimaechi Ekekeugbor led all scorers again with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Jack Sixsmith dished out a career-high nine assists and six steals.