Brooklyn Manhandles City in CUNYAC Opener

The men’s basketball team lost 96-70 at Brooklyn College Tuesday night, and may have lost one of their rising star players in the process When it rains, it pours.  Or, in this case, when things snowball, prepare for the massive avalanche.The Beavers (3-2, 0-1 CUNYAC) lost their conference opener 96-70 at Brooklyn College Tuesday night and possibly lost transfer junior Darius Rhodes for the season with a knee injury.“I’m very concerned that it’s one of those crazy, season ending injuries.  I hope I’m wrong,” CCNY head coach Tom Green said after the game.  “I’m hoping for the best.”Rhodes was trying to score around the 12 minute mark in the second half inside the paint when he came down awkwardly on his right knee, which seemed to give out on the landing.  He was taken straight to Beth Israel as CCNY awaits his diagnosis.“Darius is a strong-nosed, tough-minded guy,” Anthony Lewis said.  “Him going down is bigger than big.”CCNY’s top scorers, Lewis and Khalil Hamer, both hit the double-digit mark in scoring for the fifth straight time in as many games and both were the only Beavers on the night to score 10-or-more points.  Lewis finished with a game-high 24 while Hamer finished with 17.On the other hand, the Bulldogs had six players score in double digits with Lorenzo Williams leading the team with 19 points on the night.“Brooklyn’s a good team, and the play like it,” Green added.  “They really play a team game, my hats off to them, they totally outplayed us from start to finish.“We gotta go back to the drawing board.”The loss extends CCNY’s streak of conference opening losses, as the Beavers have not won a CUNYAC opener in the last decade, and are 0-4 in CUNYAC opening games in the Tom Green era.Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes until key CCNY mistakes helped spark several runs for the Bulldogs, who took a 51-36 lead into the locker rooms at halftime, ending the half on an 11-4 run in the final 2:42.If the first half was the example of things beginning to snowball against City, the second half was the avalanche.Brooklyn opened the second half with a huge dunk by Egzon Gjonbalaj, helping the Bulldogs go on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the second half, which ballooned to a 30-14 run at the midway point.  CCNY trailed by as much as 35, going down 85-50 with just over eight minutes left.The Bulldogs rejected almost every potential Beaver rally, racking up 10 blocks on the night as well.“Once they got their rhythm, they started playing well and kept looking for each other,” Green mentioned about Brooklyn’s second-half run.“It starts with defense.  These guys, honestly, are the best in our conference right now,” Lewis added.CCNY’s bench tried to salvage some part of the game as Salvatore Palazzolo nailed a three-pointer and added seven points in 16 minutes off the bench, most of which in relief of Rhodes in the second half.After playing a string of three games in five days, the Beavers will get a much-needed break due to the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to Nat Holman Gymnasium for a quick two-game home-stand, starting with The College of New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.  The Beavers swept the two-game series with the Lions last year, including defeating them at home in the season opener on Che McCoy’s game-winning three at the buzzer.