Top-Seeded Lehman Wins First CUNYAC Men's Basketball Crown Since 2004

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NEW YORK - Championship Most Valuable Player Ricardo Dixon finished with 25 points on 10-13 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds as top-seeded Lehman College captured its first CUNY Athletic Conference men's basketball championship since 2004 with a 101-56 win over sixth-seeded CCNY Thursday evening at the Hunter College Sportsplex.

The Lightning (21-6) captured their sixth CUNYAC title in program history and will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. Lehman extended its win streak to 15 games. CCNY (8-20) was making its first title game berth since 2017 and was the first No. 6 seed to reach the title game since Medgar Evers in 2012.

Lehman's 45-point margin of victory is a record for the conference title game, surpassing the 104-71 win by Hunter in 1993. It also marks the fourth time the winning team has reached the 100-point mark in a conference final.

The Lightning led 17-13 with 12;25 left in the first half before a 30-6 run made it a 47-25 game 1:55 before halftime on a Kofi Mends three, and led 51-30 at the break. The Beavers cut the lead to 16, 54-38, two minutes into the second half before Lehman salted the game away with a 17-3 spurt that made it 71-41 at the 12:22 mark.

In addition to Dixon, Mends added 23 points, including five three-pointers. CUNYAC Player of the Year Amar Ndiaye recorded 19 points and 19 rebounds, helping Lehman score 42 points in the paint. Kesean Tracey dished out a game-high 11 assists as the Lightning totaled 26 assists. Lehman held a 60-34 rebound advantage and limited the Beavers to 28.4 percent shooting (19-67).

Olabanjo Aborisade led the Beavers with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Michael Bowman added 15 points.

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Championship MVP Ricardo Dixon

2026 CUNYAC Men's Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team
Ricardo Dixon, Lehman (MVP)
Amar Ndiaye, Lehman
Kesean Tracey, Lehm,an
Michael Bowman, CCNY
Abdias Carcamo, CCNY
Joe Charles, Brooklyn
Keyshawn Miller, John Jay

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