The Lehman College men's basketball team (3-3 Overall, 1-0 CUNYAC) started off their City University of New York Athletic Conference portion of the schedule on the right foot as the Lightning defeated the City College of New York Beavers (0-5 Overall, 0-1 CUNYAC) by a score of 70-50 Tuesday evening at the Nat Holman Gymnasium in New York, NY.
In a game that saw both teams shoot less than 38 percent from the field, the Lightning put forth a stellar defensive effort that saw Lehman hold the Beavers to just 17 field goals on the evening while also forcing CCNY into 22 turnovers. Lehman committed just 10 mistakes of its own while holding 20-14 edge over the opposition on the offensive glass. The Lightning also connected on six of its 18 shots from downtown while the Beavers drained just two of 10.
Lehman was led by sophomore Alain Dela Cruz who scored a team-high 11 points (5-11 FG). Senior Duane Rhoden chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, and sophomore Xavier Garvin netted nine points while snatching six boards and dishing three assists. Following the victory, Head Coach Steven Schulman was happy to see his team start its league schedule with a victory.
“Anytime you could go on the road and pick up a conference victory, it's always very special,” Schulman said. “These games are always up for grabs, and I thought our defensive intensity was good. We shot the ball well in the second half, and we made shots when we needed to down the stretch. Now we'll concentrate on John Jay on Thursday night.”
The Beavers, who dressed only seven players on the evening, were led by Gabriel McFarlane who played 40 minutes and scored a game-high 15 points (3-7 FG) to go along with three assists. He was also 9-14 from the charity stripe. Also chipping in was Preston Uwoghiren who dropped in eight points and snatched a game-high 13 boards.
The Lightning will return to action on Thursday evening as Lehman heads back to the APEX Center to battle the defending CUNYAC champions, the John Jay College Bloodhounds, at 7:15pm. The Lightning swept the season series from John Jay a season ago, and it's always an intriguing battle when these two rivals get together.
