Bronx, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's basketball team used hot shooting and balanced scoring to earn an 86-59 victory over Maritime College in a game played in the APEX on Monday.  The Lightning are now 2-1 on the season.
 
Lehman jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Andrew Utate connected on a three-pointer and jumper in consecutive possessions to open the game.  He would finish with a game-high 25 points.  After the Privateers rallied to make the score 7-5, baskets from Jean Marcial and Ja-Zhyoun Laing made the score 12-5 for the Lightning.  Marcial finished with 18 points, on 8-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, while Laing was a perfect 7-7 in the game and earned a new career high with 14 points.
 
Lehman's largest lead of the half, 16 points, came when Utate completed an old-fashioned three point play that made the score 46-30, with 1:04 left.  The Lightning led at the break, 48-33.

Maritime opened the second half with a pair of three-pointers, getting the deficit back to single digits, at nine-points.  Another three from Marcial and a steal and finish from Luis Hernandez, put Lehman back in control, up 53-39, with 16:48 remaining.
 
The lead got up to 15 on a Laing layup at 14:51.  Lehman went ahead by 20, when Utate buried a three-pointer with 4:28 left that made the score, 77-56.  They ended up winning, 86-59.
 
As team, the Lightning shot 54.7% for the game (35-64).  They forced Maritime in 21 turnovers, scored 38 points in the paint, and got 23 points from their bench.
 
Utate shot 10-15 (including 4-7 from the three three-point line) en route to his 25 points.  Hernandez had game-highs in assists (eight) and steals (three).  Laing blocked a pair of shots to coincide with 7-7 shooting.  Marcial scored 18 on 8-12 shooting and was one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
The Lehman College men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, November 29, when they face Farmingdale State at 7PM on Long Island.