NEW YORK – Connecticut College saw its seven-game win streak come to an end in a 77-66 setback to Baruch College on Tuesday night in non-conference men's basketball action at the ARC Arena. 

The Bearcats shot 60 percent in the second half to hand the Camels their first loss since opening night on November 11. Gerard Nicholson netted a game-high 21 points as Baruch improved to 6-3.

Billy Whelan (Hamilton, Mass.) and David Murray (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) paced Conn with 12 points apiece. The former added four assists while the latter chipped in eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) also scored in double digits with 10 points and grabbed eight boards.

Conn seemed poised to follow the same script that helped build the win streak—take an early lead and play from in front. The Camels used a 9-2 spurt to go up 15-8 by the 11:28 mark, and eventually bumped the lead to as many as nine with 5:34 left in the half.

Baruch closed the half strong, scoring 12 unanswered points to pull in front with under a minute to go. Nicholson scored six points during the stretch while Sayeed Osorio added four. A jumper by Caelin Peters (Hamilton, Bermuda) finally ended a five-minute scoring drought for visitors, but the Camels trailed 31-30 at the break.

The Bearcats wasted little time padding the lead in the second half, using an 18-2 run to build the margin to 50-34 with 12:41 remaining. Conn's only field goal during the stretch came from Murray, who scored 10 of his 12 points after intermission.

The Camels spent the rest of the game trying to claw their way back, eventually cutting the deficit to single digits with 1:45 left. A three-pointer by RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) got Conn to within seven, but Baruch closed out the win with four points from the foul line in the final 30 seconds.

Conn, which had been red-hot from three-point range the past two games, shot just 23 percent from deep. Instead, it was Baruch that had the hot hand, connecting on 11 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc.

Conn College (7-2 overall) will next host Mitchell College on Saturday, December 10 at 2:00 p.m.