Bronx, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's basketball team likely vanquished its strongest opponent with an 85-68 victory over Gwynedd Mercy in a game played in the Bronx on Saturday. The Griffins entered the day with a 16-3 record and were receiving votes in the national poll before the Lightning earned their tenth-straight victory as part of the CUNYAC-CSAC challenge.
GMercy held the lead through most of the first half, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. Lehman fought back and went up 11-10 on a
Mylo Mitchell jumper six minutes into action. The Griffins held the lead and built a ten-point cushion, 32-22, with 4:32 left in the first. From there, the Lightning closed out the half on a 14-2 run, led 36-34 at the break and never looked back the rest of the way.
Clinton Akalonu opened the run with an offensive rebound and put back. He was a force inside all game as he scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked a shot.
Mitchell and
Andrew Utate followed with three-pointers on consecutive Lehman possessions and the Lightning were within two, 32-30, with 2:38 left. After GMercy made a bucket, another basket from Akalonu made the score 34-32. Utate tied the game inside of a minute, and he found Mitchell at the buzzer to put Lehman up, 36-34.
Lehman never relinquished the lead in the second half, and they eventually pushed the lead into double-digits. A
Tevon Bennett tip-in at 11:13 put the Lightning up, 61-51.
Luis Hernandez gave Lehman its largest lead with a bucket in the final minute to seal the win.
In the game, Hernandez scored 21 points. Mitchell shot 8-14 for 19 points, while Utate scored 15 and
Jean Marcial finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Lehman shot 19-27 from the charity stripe, while Gwynedd Mercy was just 2-5. Lehman posted a better than 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (21 assists, 10 turnovers) and forced the Griffins into 17 of their own. The team is now 18-4 on the season.
The Lehman College men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday. February 8, when they face Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. The game against the Cougars is slated for 7:00 PM.
