MARCY, N.Y.  The SUNYIT Men's Basketball team lost a heartbreaker at home Friday to Lehman College. The final score was 63-58 in overtime. The Wildcats battled back from an early deficit to tie the game up in the final seconds of regulation.   

The Lehman Lightning came out of the gates strong and managed to gain a double digit lead. The surge of offensive was led by solid three point shooting from Ryan Alvardo in the first 10 minutes of the half.  The biggest lead for the Lightning was short lived however, as the Wildcats battled back to within 6 before heading to the locker room at the end of the half.

In the second half, the Wildcats battled hard and brought themselves within striking distance at crunch time. Desmian Greer (Washington Heights, N.Y. / Chesire Academy) had 12 of his 13 points in the second half, but his biggest contribution was a big-time clutch three pointer to knot the game up at 52 with 16 seconds left in the game. The Wildcats held off Lehman for the last 16 seconds of the game to force the game into overtime.

In overtime, despite their efforts, the Wildcats got behind early and just didn't have the time they needed to edge out a victory.

 The Wildcat offense struggled throughout the game only shooting 27% from the field. Alex Drake (Lansingville, NY / Lansingburgh) led the Wildcats in points (14), steals (6), and assists (6). Derek Rowe (Mexico NY / Mexico) registered a double-double by grabbing 15 rebounds (6 offensive) and scoring10 points.

With the loss to Lehman (5-2), SUNYIT falls to 0-5 on the season. The Wildcats leave tonight to go San Antonio TX for their preseason trip. Their first game is against Southwestern at 8pm on Monday night. Live stats for the game will be available from the "Live stats" link at www.wildcats.sunyit.edu/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule.