Box Score
JAMAICA, NY— Nicholas Hamilton-Lopez netted 22 points and Marcel Esonwune recorded his ninth double-double of the season to lead the York College men's basketball team to a 73-64 win over the City College of New York Wednesday. With the win York improves to 8-12 overall and 5-3 in CUNY Athletic Conference play.
CCNY, who came into the game winless on the season, looked strong and held an early advantage, leading by as many as five points, for the first ten minutes of play. A put back by Esonwune at the 10:01 mark of the first half gave York its first lead of the game, however. York still held a one-point margin with time running out in the first half, but Hamilton-Lopez drained a three-pointer as time expired, giving the Cardinals a 37-33 lead at halftime.
York came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half opening with a 12-2 run, which was capped off by another Hamilton-Lopez three-pointer to give the Cardinals a 49-35 lead.
York appeared to have a comfortable lead but the Beavers mounted a late rally and cut the lead to six points when Felix Navarro connected on a three-pointer with 0:29 seconds remaining. However, CCNY could not get any closer and York won the game by a nine-point margin.
Esonwune finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and had another stellar game on defense, blocking three shots and swiping four steals. Elijah Evelyn added 11 points and four boards and Rodney Bennett had 11 points and two steals. Ryan Exum had seven points, five boards, five assists and four steals to pace York.
For CCNY (0-18, 0-9 CUNY), Xavier Gonzalez had a team-high 16 points, while Andrew Mungin had 15.
York will host City Tech on Friday at 8:00 p.m. The game will be aired on tape delay on Queens Public Television.
