Baruch College Repeats as CUNYAC Men’s Basketball Champion in Thriller Final

HARLEM, February 24

The CUNY Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship might have been the game of the season. Baruch won its second consecutive title by beating Lehman 83-82 in overtime on Friday night at CCNY’s Nat Holman Gymnasium.

Lehman sophomore forward Lasana Camara went to the free throw line unphased and made two pressure shots with 16 seconds left for an 82-81 lead before Baruch pushed the ball down the court and senior guard Devin Nicholson’s put in a game-winning circus shot with four seconds left on the clock.

One final push for Lehman resulted in a prayer shot before the buzzer, which hit the rim as Lehman fell to the Bearcats in the title game for the second straight year.

Baruch (22-5) advances to the Division III NCAA Tournament to play the red-hot Keene State Owls (26-1) at Spaulding Gym in New Hampshire on March 3. Lehman finished the season 18-9.

This game had Baruch written all over it from the start. Nothing was working for Lehman with conference Player of the Year, Isaiah Geathers, forced to the bench with three first half fouls. He was largely absent in a game where he needed to make an impact.

Lehman hit some huge shots in the last minute of regulation as they kept the Bearcats within one possession.

Baruch had chances to put the game away with multiple trips to the free-throw line but went 1-for-4 on the foul shots, giving the Lightning an opening. Lehman never led in regulation, but Jayden Stephens made a layup that tied the game for the first time with six seconds left and forced overtime.

In overtime, the teams traded punches as the lead remained one possession. With their two best players – Geathers and Will Feldman -fouled out, Lehman took its first lead with 2:29 left in overtime, 80-78, with a three-point shot by Juan Fernandez. Baruch regained the lead with a huge three-pointer from Jehmehl Fair.

Both teams seemed to struggle in key early moments.

Baruch started the night, grabbing an early 20-10 lead. Then, the Bearcats and Lightning struggled to find the basket from the 13-minute mark until 6:46 left in the first half. But in that chance to break the game wide open with Lehman struggling, Baruch only got the margin to 30-12. Lehman slowly swung the momentum to their side and crept back in the first half’s final minutes to make the score 37-28 at halftime.

For Baruch, Jehmehl Fair had 20 points and seven rebounds. Devin Nicholson had 15 points.

Mo Idrissou had 17 points and ten rebounds, and Isaiah Geathers had 11 points and ten rebounds for Lehman.