York College

Box Score

JAMAICA, NY— The York College men's basketball team held off a second-half surge by Hunter College and defeated the Hawks, 81-72, in the quarterfinals of the CUNYAC/ Con Edison Basketball Championship Sunday evening. With the win, York advances to the semifinals and will take on second-seeded Brooklyn College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the City College of New York.

Marcel Esonwune proved to be the difference-maker for York recording a double-double, netting 23 points, grabbing 18 boards, while matching a career-high with six blocks.  Ryan Exum also turned in a big effort, dishing out 14 assists, which is one shy of the CUNYAC tournament record, while also grabbing ten boards and scoring seven points.  Elijah Evelyn finished with 19 points on 7-10 shooting and Nicholas Hamilton-Lopez netted 15 to pace the Cardinals. 

Frantz Millien led Hunter with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Nicholas Flagg finished with 21 points.  Mark Courtien paced the Hawks with 14 points. 

York looked to have the game in hand, when they led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held a 12-point cushion at half time.  However, in the second half, the Hawks came out with a full court press and York had difficulty adjusting.  The Hawks forced 15 turnovers in the second half and clawed back into the game.

With 12:21 to play in the game, York still held a comfortable 61-50 lead. However, the Hawks went on an 11-2 run, which was capped off by a Flagg lay-up, to cut York lead to 63-61 with 7:26 to play.  The Hawks forced seven turnovers during the stretch which led to six points.      

The game would remain tight until the final minutes with York never relinquishing the lead.  A jumper by Hamilton-Lopez and a lay-up by Omari Phipps on consecutive possessions gave York a seven-point cushion with 3:03 to play.  The Hawks closed back to within three points after Millien and Flagg responded with buckets on the next two possessions.  That would be as close as the Hawks would get the rest of the way as York made its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The win was also the 297^th in the career of York head coach Ronald St. John.  He is just three wins shy of 300 career victories. 

Tickets to Wednesday's semi-finals are free and can be picked up by stopping by the athletic office at York College.  Should the Cardinals win on Wednesday they will play in the finals on Friday against either Lehman College or Baruch College who won their respective quarterfinal games.