Update: Men's Basketball win ECAC championships

For the first time since 2003, Baruch ended their season in a win, defeating fellow CUNY Athletic Conference opponent York, 93-70, to capture the ECAC championship.

Junior Lionel Hilaire was named tournament most valuable player on the strength of his team leading 21-point performance, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, in the game against the Cardinals.

"Lionel was great during the tournament," said team captain and graduating senior George Kunkel via e-mail. "He shot the ball very consistently and played great defense along with that."

Along with Hilaire, three other Bearcats were in double figures, including Kunkel (18 points, six rebounds, four assists), junior Chris Beauchamp (18 points, five rebounds, four assists) and junior Sean Loftus (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Baruch shot 54 percent as a whole throughout the tournament.

"We were patient on offense, which is something that coach has been preaching to us all season long," said Kunkel on the successful shooting. "We made the opposing defense work and in turn got the shots we wanted."

To make things a little better, Baruch avenged a four-point loss, 89-85, which they suffered to York — the team that they would have played if they had beat Brooklyn College in the semi-finals of the CUNYAC tournament — earlier in the season.

"It made it sweeter [to beat York in the championship]," said Kunkel. "They are one of our biggest rivals within the conference which brings extra importance to the game."

Although it is not the championship they hoped for, the ECAC championship ends the season on a positive note, and adds another banner in the ARC arena.

"We knew that the ECAC were all we had left to prove this year and we made the most of it," said Kunkel. "We left everything we had on the floor and ended the tournament with no regrets."

Check out next week's paper for details on the win and for more on the story.