THE BASICS 
Lesley University, 71 at SUNY Cobleskill, 91

Records: 
Lesley University Lynx (3-8, 0-2, NAC)
SUNY Cobleskill Fighting Tigers (3-5, 1-1, NAC) 

Location: Cobleskill, N.Y. – Iorio Gymnasiumm

Date: Saturday, December 7, 2024

THE LEAD— Lesley University men's basketball took part in its second North Atlantic Conference (NAC) game at SUNY Cobleskill Saturday but unfortunately fell to the Fighting Tigers, 91-71. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) got the Lynx on the board right away with a driving layup. However, the Fighting Tigers responded with a 10-3 run, taking a five-point lead (10-5) before Lesley called a timeout to stop the host's momentum. Quanire Greene led the charge for the hosts with five points.
• Coming out of the break, SUNY Cobleskill could not keep the Lynx away as the Lesley hung around and found themselves down two (18-16) after CJ Leonard (Raynham, Mass.) made a layup. Despite being down two, Lesley could not pull ahead, and SUNY Cobleskill grabbed its first double-digit lead of the night (30-20) at 5:42 when Jermaine Wheeler knocked down a free throw that capped off a 12-4 spurt.
• Later in the first, after Lesley called a timeout with 3:48 left in the half, the Fighting Tigers closed out the opening frame with a 40-29 advantage.
• After a Tarell Joseph (Hempstead, N.Y.) three got the second half started, Lesley trimmed its deficit to eight (40-32) at 19:32. Once again, SUNY Cobleskill pulled ahead and took another double-digit lead (51-40) thanks to a Wheeler layup which lead to a Fighting Tigers timeout. After the timeout, SUNY Cobleskill continued to apply offensive pressure and increased its lead to 19 (63-44) courtesy of a 12-4 burst. 
• Once action resumed after the timeout, SUNY Cobleskill earned its largest lead of the night (75-52) after Chace Peterson hit two free throws, highlighting a 12-8 run.
• Despite the large deficit, Lesley clawed back and found themselves down 18 (77-61) thanks to a 9-2 stretch forcing the hosts to take a timeout. Kai Burridge (New York, N.Y.) spearheaded the late rally with four points, while Leonard chipped in with a hard two-handed slam.  Even with the late push, SUNY Cobleskill held on for the 91-71 NAC victory. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS  

• Leonard led the Lynx in scoring with 20 points on 8-14 shooting while also going 3-5 from deep. The Junior guard also led the squad in rebounds with nine boards, marking a new season-high.
• Howard and Jaxon Miles (Arlington, Texas) were Lesley's other double-figure scorers, with 14 and 10 points respectively. 
• Elijah Morris led all scorers on the afternoon with 25 points shooting 9-14 from the field and 2-3 from three.
• Marquay Tanksley and Wheeler led the hosts in rebounds with eight on the day.
• SUNY Cobleskill held a slight advantage in shooting by going 34-76 (44.7 percent) from the floor, whereas Lesley was 30-68 (44.1 percent).

UP NEXT

• Lesley wraps up its December slate with a road matchup at Division I Stonehill College on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m.