Westfield, Mass. – A late rally by the Lehman College men's basketball team resulted in a 90-86 win over St. Lawrence in the consolation game of the Rick Martin-Holiday Inn Express Tournament from Westfield, Massachusetts on Saturday.  The victory was the first of the year for the 1-1 Lightning.
 
The game was pretty even early on, as both sides jockeyed for control.  Neither team could build a significant lead and there were five ties in the first half.  The final tie came at the 6:08 mark when an Andrew Utate three-pointer knotted the score at 27-all. From there, the Saints pulled away to lead by eight points at the half, 44-36.
 
St. Lawrence took control in the second half, building double-digit leads on three different occasions.  Their largest lead was 14 points, when a Pierre Coffy trifecta made the score 77-63.  From there, Lehman rallied. 
 
Layups on consecutive possessions from Miguel Haboosh and Gabe Jeffers cut the deficit to ten.  After another Coffy three put the Saints up 13, Mylo Mitchell buried a three-pointer of his own, negating the previous one and keeping the score within ten, 80-70.  Less than a minute later, Mitchell's two foul shots got Lehman within eight.  After two St. Lawrence freebies, Luis Hernandez made a three-pointer and pulled the Lighting within seven, 82-75, with 5:08 left.  Utate buried two foul shots at the 4:05 mark and Lehman trailed 82-77.  After a Saints miss, a Jean Marcial rebound led to a fast break where Hernandez dished out one of his nine assists as Utate nailed a jumper to make the score 82-79.
 
A couple of Utate free throws pulled Lehman within a point and a steal by Marcial on the ensuing possession ended with a layup from the guard and a one-point lead for Lehman, 83-82.  They never relinquished the lead from there as they got key foul shots in the final 0:10 of regulation from Mitchelle and Utate to seal the four-point-win.
 
Utate finished with a game-high 26 points and tied a career-high in rebounds with nine.  He reached that milestone at CCNY on January 3, 2016.  Mitchell was 5-7 from beyond the three-point line and totaled 23 points.  Hernandez had 11 points and a career-best, nine assists.
 
Head Coach Steve Schulman reflected on the win, saying, "This is one of the biggest non-conference wins in school history."  He then lauded his team's effort: "The guys never gave up, fought hard and earned it.  I am really proud."
 
The Lehman College men's basketball team hosts Bronx rival, SUNY Maritime on Monday, November 27, at 7PM.  This will be the home opener for the Lightning.