On Saturday, November 17th, the Lions faced Cooper Union. From last years buzzer beater against Cooper Union, the Lions knew that they would have to fight for this win. The Lions were able to secure the win 74-71, in an intense game against Cooper Union.
Both the Lions and Cooper Union came out strong, with the lead going back and forth between the teams. By the end of the first half, the Lions only led by five points with a score of 41-36. They knew they would have to continue to push and work hard if they wanted this win.
By the second half, both the Lions and Cooper Union were playing well offensively and defensively, not backing down from working towards the win.
With less than a minute left, the Lions were tied at 71-71. Freshman Tyler Bowens was given the chance to push the Lions ahead, when he was fouled by a Cooper Union player and given two free throws. Missing the first shot, the pressure was now on for Bowens. The gym was silent and all eyes were on him. He focused in on the basket and took his shot, making his second free throw attempt.
Only leading by one point and having less than twenty seconds left in the game, the Lions knew that they could not let Cooper Union take any shots. The Lions received another opportunity to widen the gap in the score, when Junior Drew Knudsen was fouled by a Cooper Union player.
Knudsen was 1-1 with free throws in this game and would go on to make both free throws and push the Lions' lead to 74-71. With those three points, the Lions kept playing defensively, running down the clock and were able to take the win.
Freshmen Jordan Bishop and Tyler Bowens continued to show their skills each scoring more than twenty points. Bishop put up the most points for the Lions, with a total of 24. While Bowens put up 21 points and had seven assists.
Although the freshmen were showing well offensively, Senior Luke Borchelt secured his first double-double this season, with a total of 11 rebounds, 10 of those being defensive and scoring 18 points in the game. Freshman Ben Oldham followed close behind with rebounds, making a total of nine rebounds.
NEXT UP: The Lions have a short turnaround time with a game tomorrow, November 18th, against Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, at Baruch College (2:45pm).