Box Score

Brooklyn, NY---The Brooklyn College Men's Basketball Team (20-6) got a very well balanced attack on Saturday afternoon as all five starters scored in double figures in a lopsided, 96-68, victory over Lehman (8-18) in the quarterfinal round of the 45th Annual CUNYAC / Con Edison Basketabll Tournament.  

Brooklyn, the #2 seed in this year's tournament, will advance to Tuesday evening's quarterfinal where they will face the #3 seed Baruch at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium, in a 7:30 pm tip-off.

"This game was a testament to the fact we are a team in every sense of the word," said Head Coach Steve Podias.  "Five doulbe-digit scorers and 20 assists and the fact that Rich fouled out after only playing 18 minutes, showed that we have players who are able to step up and pick up the slack."

Pick up the slack they did as the Bulldogs laid the groundwork early for their even paced offense as their first 10 points were scored on contributions from all five starters, as each had a two-point basket in the opening minutes, helping the home team to a three point lead.

After a Lehman jumper cut the lead to one at 10-9, Brooklyn went on a 19-4 in which Amil John (South Shore / Brooklyn, NY) scored 8 points, dished out 2 assists, and nabbed 2 steals. 

Lehman would try to remain close as the hot shooting of Alain De la Cruz (John F. Kennedy / Santo Domingo, DR), who was 3 for 3 from behind the arc in the half, helped cut the halftime lead to 49-35.

The two teams began the first half of the second stanza trading baskets for much of the play, until a key moment came with 13:38 remaining and BC up 12, Richard Jean Baptiste (St. John's Prep / Queens, NY) was whistled for the blocking foul, and then consequently called for a technical, his 3rd and 4th personals of the game.  

Lehman's Xavier Garvin (Mt. St. Michael / Bronx, NY) stepped to the line and made two the two technical free throws, but Jonathan DeJesus (Mt. St. Michael / Bronx, NY) was unable to convert on either attempt from the charity strip and so the BC lead stayed in double-figures, 61-51.

Jean-Baptiste was removed from the game by Podias and it looked as if the momentum might shift, but that would not be the case at all as a couple of minutes later, Lehman's De la Cruz was called for a foul and then technical, his 5th of the game, forcing the Lightning to play the final 11 minutes without their top three point threat.

BC senior forward Thomas Guerin (St. Edmund Prep / Brooklyn, NY) would make good on the two technical free throws and then after John sunk one of two, Guerin would nail a three-pointer on Brooklyn's next possession to increase the lead to 17.

Lehman could not muster a comeback from that point on as the closest they would get would be 15 points.

Guerin, a senior co-captain of the team, was happy with the win but not content, saying, "We had a great team effort today, but we have to remain focused on our goals and get ready for Tuesday."

Daniel Nisbett (Petrides / Staten Island, NY) scored a team-high 20 points, while John added 17 for the Bulldogs.

Guerin and Darnell Cudjoe (Murry Bergtraum / Brooklyn, NY) had 15 a piece, while Jean-Baptiste added 10 points.  Cudjoe also led the team with 9 boards and 5 assists, while John paced the squad with 5 steals.

Perry Daniel (Erasmus Hall / Brooklyn, NY) had a game-high 22 points, but also committed a costly 7 turnovers in 34 minutes of action.

The win was the team's 20th of the season, marking the third consecutive year that the team has reached the 20-win plateau.