Box Score
The Lehman men's basketball team (17-7 overall, 9-3 CUNYAC) fell to conference rival York college (12-12 overall, 9-3 CUNYAC) in a CUNYAC contest Wednesday Evening on Senior Night at the Apex Center by a score of 71-63. The Lightning had an opportunity to solidify the No. 3 seed in the upcoming CUNYAC tournament with a victory, but the team will now need a victory Friday evening at Baruch compiled with a Cardinals loss to the Bridges on Saturday to be able to stake claim to the third spot in the tournament.
Prior to the start of the game, Director of Athletics, Dr. Martin L. Zwiren, Vice President of Student Affairs Jose Magdaleno, and Head Coach Steven Schulman and his coaching staff took a few moments to honor six special seniors who have given so much to the Lehman College men's basketball program during their tenures with the team. Senior Duane Rhoden received a plaque as well as a commemorative framed jersey for being a four-year senior, while Adam Manning, Michael Waite, Sebastien Szymkowiak, Alen Redzic, and Joseph Akingbade were all presented with plaques. Each senior was also presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Despite the loss for the Lightning, Redzic posted a double-double with 15 points (5-7 FT) and 19 rebounds to go along with three steals. Sophmore guard Xavier Garvin netted 13 points to go along with four assists and five steals. Rhoden chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds while sophomore Jonathan DeJesus chipped in with 11 rebounds, three blocks and four steals. Following the game, Coach Schulman was pleased with the ceremony, but hopes his team will play better on Friday evening.
“The senior presentation before the game was beautiful, and I want to thank Dr. Zwiren and his staff for supporting us so much and I also want to thank the seniors for making so many sacrifices for this program over the years,” Schulman said. “Our guys played extremely hard but I think we got caught up in the excitement and atmosphere too much and we didn't play to the best of our abilities. I'm confident that we got it out of our system and I think we'll play better on Friday.”
In the victory for the Cardinals, junior guard Ryan Exum netted a game-high 18 points, dished a game-high eight assists and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore standout Marcel Esonwune also helped with 17 points (7-10 FG) to go along with five rebounds and five steals, and Nicholas Hamilton-Lopez chipped in with 13 points (2-2 FT) and two assists.
The Lightning will return to action Friday as the team travels to New York, NY to play in their regular season finale against conference rival Baruch College, with game-time scheduled for 7:30pm.
