The Baruch College Bearcats held off a last minute rally by the Cardinals of York College to win 80-79 on Monday night in the ARC Arena.

The Bearcats led by as much as 12 points (59-47) early in the the second half, but the visiting Cardinals came back to take a brief one-point lead 64-63 with 8:55 left.

The Bearcats, behind 16 second half points from Adnan Bajrami, took back the lead and were up by as much as nine (80-71) with only 1:51 left.

The Cardinals then hit consecutive threes and made a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining to cut the score down to 80-79.

The Cardinals had the last possession but missed a shot from the corner as the clock expired and the Bearcats' defense held on.

Bajrami finished with 22 points to lead a balanced scoring attack with Michael Richards (11), Sean Donnellan (11), Jehmehl Fair (10), and Cameron Burns (10) all scoring in double-figures.

Quran Dublin led the visitors with 26 points.