BRONX, N.Y. – Poor shooting hurt the Lehman College men's basketball team on Saturday, as the host Lightning lost to William Paterson University, 54-48. Lehman has now dropped three straight games, and is 5-5 on the season. WPU is now 6-5 with the win.

Both teams struggled offensively due to deft defense. Lehman shot just 28.3% from the field for the game, while WPU shot 36.2%.

The first half was tight throughout, with WPU taking a 20-17 lead into the break. In the second stanza, Lehman took a 24-23 lead at the 17:04 mark, on a three-pointer by junior forward Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes). Minutes later, junior forward Stanley Stephens (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center) made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three points, 26-23. A 5-0 run put the Pioneers back on top briefly, before an Anthony Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y./Roosevelt) three-point basket tied the score at 30 with 11:50 to go.

But the Lightning then went cold, not scoring a point for the next five minutes. Defense though, kept Lehman in the game, as WPU would only extend its lead to six points. But the Pioneers went on to lead by as many as 12 in the second half en route to the win.

On the afternoon, three Lehman players scored in double figures: Rodriguez had 11, while Gil and senior guard Phil Ductan (Bronx, N.Y./Kima) each had 10.

Lehman is slated to host Maritime College on January 3, 2013.