Cardinals Defeat John Jay; Avenge Loss from Last Year’s Championship
Box Score
NEW YORK, NY – The York College men’s basketball team got a little bit of revenge Friday evening, defeating defending CUNY Athletic Conference champion John Jay College, 78-51, in a rematch of last years Championship game. With the win, York improves to 6-12 overall and 3-3 in the CUNYAC.
The game was tight early on with each team exchanging leads for the first seven minutes of play. With York trailing by two, 13-11, junior transfer Nicholas Hamilton-Lopez (Woodside, NY/ Pfeiffer University) caught fire, hitting three pointers on three consecutive possessions to give York a 20-13 advantage. The rest of the team then followed suit, scoring 16 unanswered points. The 25-0 run was capped off by a Ryan Exum (Bronx, NY/ Truman) free throw with 3:59 to play in the half. Overall the Cardinals, held John Jay scoreless for nearly 10 minutes of action. The late first-half run would put the game away, as York cruised the rest of the way.
Turnovers were the key to the game as York forced 30 miscues, which they converted into 34 points. York also dominated the offensive glass, pulling down 16 offensive rebounds which they converted into 21 points. Meanwhile, John Jay only had four second chance points.
For York, Hamilton-Lopez finished with a game-high 18 points, while Rodney Bennett (Elmhurst, NY/ Chaparral) matched a career-high with 15 points. Elijah Evelyn (Brooklyn, NY/ William Dickinson) added 10 points and six rebounds, while Exum finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six steals.
The Cardinals will return to action on Wednesday when they host Hunter College at 8:00 p.m.
