Box Score
BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's basketball team staged a huge come-from-behind victory, 74-59, over the City College of New York in the final regular season game on Tuesday evening in the APEX. The Lightning trailed by ten at halftime but outscored the Beavers, 51-26, in the second half to earn the victory.
Lehman (13-12, 7-9 CUNYAC) has leap-frogged John Jay College and clinched the sixth seed in the upcoming CUNY Athletic Conference Championships. Lehman will travel to Baruch to face the third seeded Bearcats on Saturday in the Quarterfinals.
The win tonight was the 200th career victory for Lehman Head Coach Steven Schulman, who is in his 14th season.
Tonight, the Lightning came out of the gate sluggish as the Beavers (7-18, 3-13 CUNYAC) led by as many as 13. The Lightning were able to cut the deficit to 10 after 20 minutes of play. For the first 20 minutes, Lehman shot just 28.0% from the field.
In the second half, Lehman was able to flip a switch right away by going on a 16-3 run in a span of 6:43. Junior guard Marty Arzu (Bronx, N.Y./Fannie Lou Hamer) nailed a three-point basket to give Lehman their first lead of the game, 37-36, with 14:12 remaining in regulation. Classmate Jonathan Greenfield (Hartford, Conn./Windsor) continued the momentum by driving in the paint and laying up the ball into the basket to increase Lehman's lead to three, less than a minute later.
The Beavers regained a slim one point advantage but it was déjà vu as Arzu connected on another three-point shot to help the home team jump out to a 42-40 lead with 10:46 left in the second half.
With the game tied at 42, senior guard Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) hit a layup to give Lehman the lead for good. Senior guard Stanley Stephens (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center) nailed a jumper from downtown to increase Lehman's lead to 49-43 with just 9:11 left to knock the sails out of CCNY.
After Lehman extended their lead to double digits, Stephens took a long feed from sophomore forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon) for an uncontested dunk, to make it 67-52 Lehman with only 2:49 remaining. The Lightning went on to win the game, 74-59.
Stephens led the Lightning in scoring with 24 points, while Gil tallied 15 points and dished out seven assists. Greenfield registered a double-double by scoring ten points and grabbing ten boards. Jones just missed a double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and also blocked three shots.
Tonight was the final home game of the season for Lehman, as the Lightning honored six seniors who played the last home game of their collegiate careers. Stephens, Gil, guard Danny Rock (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), guard Ryan Alvarado (New York, N.Y./Urban Peace), guard Sean Desimone (Corona, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran), and center Yve Jay Modi (Ramat Gan, Israel/Clarkstown South) were all lauded prior to the start of the game.
