BRONX --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College men's basketball erased a 15-point halftime deficit but were unable to hold on Wednesday evening with an 81-77 CUNYAC setback on the road to the Lehman College Lightning (10-1, 4-0 CUNYAC) inside APEX Arena.

How it Happened​​​​​​

• After last taking the court on December 11, the Cardinals started slow and found themselves in a 10-0 hole just 2:41 in. 
• Donald Hartley Jr. answered with five-straight points followed by a Devine Chisholm jumper to cap a 7-0 Cardinal spurt to pull within three (10-7) at the 15:40 mark. 
• Lehman replied with a 15-2 scoring spree from 15:40 to 9:50 to build a 25-9 lead. 
• Trailing by 16 points, York chipped away to score 15 of the game's next 20 points as Hartley Jr. netted eight to trim the deficit to six points (30-24) with 5:53 left in the half. 
• Lehman countered with a 15-3 run to extend its advantage to 18 points (45-30) before taking a 45-30 lead into intermission.  
• Trailing by 18 (50-32) with 17:48 remaining in the second half, the Cardinals pecked away with an 18-8 run as Quran Dublin scored seven during the stretch to make it an eight-point game (58-50) at the 11:25 mark. 
• Lehman grew its lead back to 12 before York made its run. 
• The Cardinals rallied with 10 unanswered points to pull within two (66-64) with 5:15 left. 
• Both teams traded baskets until Mambe Koureissi scored five-straight points to push York in front for its first lead (73-70) of the game with 3:05 remaining. 
• Lehman then put together a 9-2 run to take a 79-75 lead with 69 seconds left.  
• In the final minute, York shot 2-of-3 from the free-throw line as Lehman sank 2-of-2 to hold on for the 81-77 final. 

Inside the Box Score
Hartley Jr. poured in 17 of his 21 points (3-of-6 3FG, 10-of-13 FT) in the first half. Koureissi made his season debut with 21 points (7-of-12 FG) and eight rebounds off the bench.  Dublin added 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists.  Chisholm contributed nine points and five assists.  Roki Mendoza Familia grabbed eight rebounds.  
 
Gian Batista poured in a game-high 30 points (10-of-19 FG, 9-of-10 FT), 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead the Lightning to victory.  Isaiah Geathers followed with 19 points and Mo Idrissou chipped in 10.
 
York shot 39.3 percent from the field (24-of-61), 31.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-22) and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line (22-of-28) as Lehman hit 44.6 percent from the floor (29-of-65), 28.6 percent from long range (8-of-28) and 83.3 percent from the stripe (15-of-18).  The Cardinals won the boards battle, 39-38, scoring 12 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds. York also outplayed Lehman in bench scoring (26-10) while the Lightning owned the edge in assists (16-14), steals (5-4), points off turnovers (18-12) and points in the paint (38-26).  Both teams drew even in blocks (1-1)

Up Next
The Cardinals (3-7, 1-1 CUNYAC) travel Friday (Jan. 14) to Nat Holman Gymnasium to take on the City College of New York Beavers (4-6, 0-1 CUNYAC) in a CUNYAC matchup at 7 p.m. 

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