The finish capped off an exciting comeback for the Baruch Bearcats (12-3, 4-0 CUNYAC), who trailed 45-30 with 16:11 left in the second half.
Baruch responded with a 23-7 run to go ahead 53-52 with 7:22 remaining on a lay up by Carl Emengo (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie).
The remainder of the game saw the advantage change between both teams.
Baruch took a 68-66 lead on a George Kunkel (Glendale, NY/Archbishop Molloy) lay up with 49 seconds left.
Lehman missed two free throws on their next possession down court to give the Bearcats the ball back with 34 seconds.
Ben Crane (Spring Valley, NY/Spring Valley) was immediately fouled and hit one of two free throws for a 69-66 lead with 31 seconds left.
Lehman charged down the court and Duane Rhoden (Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton) hit a lay up to cut the advantage to one, 69-68.
George Kunkel (Glendale, NY/Archbishop Molloy) was then immediately fouled on the inbounds, and hit one of two free throws to go up, 70-68, with 16 seconds left.
Lehman then went down the court and tied the game on a jumper by Kyle Lockett (White Plains, NY/Alexander Hamilton) with five seconds left that appeared to send the game to overtime.
However, Karis brought the ball quickly up the court looking to drive to the basket, but surprised his defender with a long-range shot from 29-feet that hit nothing but net for the victory.
The officials put 0.6 seconds back on the clock, but Cheick Fadika (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/Petit) blocked the inbounds pass to seal the exciting victory.
Karis, Fadika, and Robi Davidson (Tel Aviv, Israel/Beverly Hills) each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack that shot 48 percent (27-56) in the game.
Fadika also earned the John Conboy Award, which goes to the MVP of the game. Conboy played two years each of basketball for Baruch and Lehman, and later coached the women’s basketball team at Baruch. Unfortunately, he passed away at an early age.
Baruch will next play on Wednesday, January 11, with a conference road game at York College in Jamaica, N.Y. Tip off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.