The Lehman College men's basketball team (1-2 Overall, 0-0 CUNYAC) dropped a hard-fought contest Friday evening, falling to the Utica College Pioneers (2-1 Overall, 0-0 Empire 8) in the opening round of the Utica College Tip-Off Tournament by a score of 65-58 at the Clark Athletic Center in Utica, New York. With the loss, the Lightning will take on Albany College of Pharmacy in the consolation game of the tournament tomorrow afternoon at 1:00pm. The Panthers fell to SUNYIT earlier in the evening by a score of 99-58.
For the Lightning, it was the Duane Rhoden show. The senior standout paced his team and kept Lehman College within striking distance all evening long. The DeWitt Clinton High School product shot 9-18 from the floor, 6-8 from the charity stripe, and finished with 27 points for the evening. The total was good for a game-high, and he also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds while tallying two steals. Sophomore guard Jameson Garcia finished with 10 points and four rebounds on the evening, and fellow sophomore guard Xavier Garvin added eight points, recorded three steals, and dished two assists. The Lightning trailed by as many as 12 at one point but stayed close in the contest, cutting the deficit to five late in the second half before eventually running out of gas in the final three minutes. Following the game, Head Coach Steven Schulman was proud of his team.
“If we play this kind of game all of the time, there are a lot of schools that we can compete against and beat,” he said. “Duane was terrific tonight, and I believe our defensive intensity was encouraging. We're really making strides and I believe we're playing with a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can get a win against the Panthers tomorrow and leave her with a split.”
For the Pioneers, junior forwards Patrick Goodman and Robert Whyte paced their squad all evening long. Goodman had the hot hand throughout the night as he connected on eight of his 14 attempts and totaled 21 points while snatching four rebounds, and Whyte cleaned up on the boards, snatching 11 rebounds (eight on the offensive glass) while pouring in 15 points. Sophomore guard James Patterson was pesky on the defensive side, as he tallied six steals.
Lehman was outplayed on the glass, as the Lightning caressed just 28 boards while Utica College snatched 44 for the evening. The Pioneers also held a whopping 21-8 edge in rebounding on the offensive glass. Lehman held a slight edge in turnovers, forcing 25 Pioneer miscues while committing 22 of their own errors.
The Lightning won't have long to dwell on the defeat as they return to action bright and early tomorrow hoping to leave Utica, NY with a .500 record after its tussle with the Panthers.
