JAMAICA, NY --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College men's basketball rallied late but were unable to push past a 19-point second-half deficit to drop an 82-71 CUNYAC home decision to the John Jay College Bloodhounds (17-5, 10-1 CUNYAC) on Military Appreciation Night inside York College Gymnasium. 

Veterans representing the York College and The Wounded Warriors Project, as well as CUNY Reserve Officers' Training Corp (ROTC) were celebrated in addition to a presentation of the colors by the CUNY ROTC prior to the opening tip.  York Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted a halftime tug of war contest that featured participation from the ROTC and York student-athletes.
 
The Cardinals struck first with a layup by Akil Vaughn to break the scoring ice 26 seconds in for the early lead.  Trailing 16-13, Mambe Koureissi dropped in back-to-back layups followed by a Donald Hartley, Jr. 3-pointer to give York a 20-16 advantage off the power of a 7-0 run.  With the game knotted at 26-all, John Jay went on an 11-2 scoring spree to close out the final 3:43 for its 37-28 halftime lead.

Playing ahead for the final 23:43, John Jay quickly went up by 13 points with 17:58 showing on the second-half clock.  York chipped away to pull within seven before the Bloodhounds went on a 14-2 run to extend the lead to a game-high 19 points (63-44) with 7:50 remaining.  The Cardinals replied with a 15-6 run as Jaye Bookhart contributed seven points during that stretch capped by a 3-pointer with 2:14 left to trim the deficit to nine (73-64).  John Jay would outscore York by two (9-7) in the final 2:11 to hold on for the win. 

Bookhart scored a game-high 21 points (9-of-11 FG, 2-of-3 3FG) and nabbed three steals to pace York.  Donald Hartley, Jr. went for 15 points, six assists and five rebounds while Devine Chisholm registered 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.  Guillermo Hernandez chipped in with a career-high 12 points (6-of-7 FG), nine rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes off the bench. 
Doug Levy totaled 20 points (11-of-13 FT), 14 rebounds and two blocks to lead John Jay.  Jayson Brewer scored 15 and Angel Rivera and Garrison Watkins both netted 13. Kyle LaGuardia rounded out John Jay's double-digit scorers with 11 points.       

In the end, York shot 44.8 percent from the field (30-of-67), 33.3 from 3-point range (6-of-18) and 55.6 percent from the free-throw line (5-of-9) as John Jay hit 39.4 percent from the floor (26-of-66), 25.9 percent from long distance (7-of-27) and 67.6 percent from the charity stripe (23-of-35).  Both teams drew even in rebounds (42-42) while John Jay scored 21 second-chance points off 17 offensive boards. The Cardinals outplayed John Jay in steals (8-7), fastbreak points (14-7) and bench scoring (18-16) as John Jay owned the advantage in assists (19-18), blocks (6-4), points in the paint (38-30) and points off turnovers (18-14).

The Cardinals (7-15, 3-8 CUNYAC) close out their home slate Monday (Feb. 10) on Senior Day against the Baruch College Bearcats (12-9, 6-5 CUNYAC) starting at 7:30 p.m. on the School of Health Sciences and Professional Programs Appreciation Night inside York College Gymnasium.  Prior to the opening tip, senior Jean-Luc Etienne (2017-20) will be recognized for his dedication to York College Athletics with the annual Senior Day Ceremony. 

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