The Baruch College Bearcats defeated the Hawks of Hunter College, 68-66, in what may be considered as one of the greatest Baruch vs Hunter games in the long basketball history between the two rival schools located just a few stops from each other on the Lexington Avenue #6 Subway Line.

With the result, the Bearcats (14-12) live to play another day as they advance to the semifinal round of the CUNYAC / Con Edison Championship Tournament scheduled for Tuesday, at 6:00 pm, at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium. They will play the #1 seed the College of Staten Island (22-4).

The two rivals, as expected in a game where a loss ends the season, played with lots of intensity in front of a boisterous crowd of over 600 fans in the ARC Arena. The quarterfinal featured eight ties and seven lead changes, but what happened in the final 28 seconds of regulation will be remembered the most, at least for the Baruch faithful in attendance.

Hunter led 55-49 with 28 seconds left and seemingly in control to defeat the Bearcats for the third straight time in the CUNYAC quarterfinals. However, after a defensive rebound by Hunter where a player was trapped, they called a timeout when they had none left.

That resulted in an immediate technical foul with two free throws to come. Chris Beauchamp connected on both to cut the deficit to 55-51.

Hunter was fouled on their next possession down court, but missed both free throw attempts. Beauchamp grabbed the rebound off the second missed free throw but was quickly fouled enabling the senior to return to the line for two more free throw opportunities. Beauchamp connected on one of two to cut the deficit further to 55-52 with 19 seconds left.

Hunter committed a turnover on their very next possession and the Bearcats raced down court looking to tie the contest. Beauchamp was fouled attempting a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to enable the Bearcats to shockingly have the opportunity to tie the contest with three free throw attempts to come.

Beauchamp calmly sank all three to tie the contest while a number of fans quickly returned to the gym as the Baruch fortunes changed in a span of seconds.

Hunter had the final possession, but could not score to force overtime while the crowd celebrated the stunning turn of events.

In the overtime, the Bearcats used their momentum to race out to a 61-56 lead with 1:11 remaining, but Hunter did not go quietly as they rallied with a pair of 3-pointers to get as close as 65-63 with 25 seconds left.

Baruch's Rob Goldstein was quickly fouled on the next possession and the freshman from Long Island sank both free throws for a 67-63 advantage with 12 seconds left.

Hunter raced down court and got a successful 3-pointer from their 6-foot-11 center Panagio Koutsoloukas to cut the lead to just one point (67-66) with four seconds left.

The common late game strategy of fouling continued as Mickey Abbatiello was hacked on the next possession and he walked to the free throw line to connect on one of two attempts with one second left for a 68-66 score.

Hunter did not have time to get off a shot and the game ended to enable the Bearcats to defeat their fierce rivals to advance to the CUNYAC semifinals on Tuesday night at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium.

Hunter shot only 23-of-41 from the free throw line and finished shooting 32.8 percent (22-54) to see their season come to an end with an 11-15 record and quarterfinal round exit.

Beauchamp, who continues to climb up Baruch's men's basketball all-time scoring chart, finished a heroic effort with a double-double of 21 points (16 second half points) and 10 rebounds.

Granville Gittens (6-11 fg) connected on big shots throughout the game to finish with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Goldstein had another double-figure scoring contest with 11 points. Fuat Yapar also came up big this evening with nine rebounds.

Panagio Koutsoloukas led Hunter with a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds.

2012 MEN'S SCHEDULE
QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, February 18 (Higher Seeds Host)
#1 Staten Island defeated #8 John Jay, 85-65
#4 Baruch defeated #5 Hunter, 68-66 (Overtime)
#6 Medgar Evers defeated #3 Lehman, 63-60
#7 York defeated #2 Brooklyn, 69-63 (Overtime)

SEMIFINALS (at CCNY)
Tuesday, February 21
#1 Staten Island vs #4 Baruch, 6:00 pm
#6 Medgar Evers vs #7 York, 8:00 pm

CHAMPIONSHIP (at CCNY)
Saturday, February 25
Semifinal Winners, 5:00 pm