BRONX, N.Y. - The Lehman College men's basketball team dominated Medgar Evers College, 97-61, to open up CUNY Athletic Conference play on Tuesday evening. The Lightning are now 1-0 in conference play and 3-2 overall.

The Blue and Gold trailed twice early on, but would pull away and never look back.

Sophomore Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) kicked off the home team's offensive attack by laying the ball into the hoop to put Lehman up, 2-0, less than a minute into the game. After Lehman fell behind 6-3, Jones would attack the rim again for two points to pull his team within one, just 1:31 into the contest.

With 14:23 left in the first half, junior Brandon Stolz (Bronx, N.Y./Truman) attacked the paint and scored to put Lehman up for good, 11-10, as part of a 14-0 run.

The Lightning's dominance in the paint continued as senior Stanley Stephens (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center) took a feed from Stolz and laid the ball up and in to put the home team up, 42-30, with 2:02 left in the first half.

Senior Zach Basso's (New York, N.Y./All Hallows) jump shot with just 0:33 left in the opening half, extended Lehman's lead to 46-32.

After the Cougars (1-5, 0-1) opened the second half with a successful shot from beyond the arc, the Lightning went on a 15-0 run to put the game out of reach. Senior Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) nailed a shot from downtown to put Lehman up, 64-36, with 14:31 remaining in the game.

Senior Ryan Alvarado (New York, N.Y./Urban Peace) alertly forced a steal which led to his own layup, to put Lehman up by 40 with 9:12 remaining.

With just over four minutes remaining, sophomore Edwin Diaz (City Island, N.Y./Westside) was able to draw a foul and score a basket. After he hit a free throw to successfully complete the traditional three point play, the Lightning went up by 44, the largest lead of the game.

Five Lightning players scored double-figure points. Jones led all scorers with 21 points and forced three steals. Stolz tallied 15 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out five assists, and had four steals. Stephens scored 15 points, Gil tallied 13 points, and Alvarado produced 11-points. Junior Kevan Proctor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grand Street Campus) grabbed seven boards.

The Lightning will be back in action on Wednesday, December 4 at the APEX, for a key conference game against Hunter College. The women will play the first game of the doubleheader against Hunter at 5:00 p.m., while the men are scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m.