CCNY Men’s Basketball team is on the verge of missing the CUNYAC playoffs after losing at York College Friday night.
By Jeff Weisinger
If Friday night was an indicator of anything, the 2014-15 season could be the first season in the Tom Green era (since 2011) that City’s men’s basketball team may miss the playoffs.After losing 70-60 at York on Friday night and with two of the next three games against conference rivals with winning conference records in the CUNYAC, CCNY is on pace to beat their 1-11 CUNYAC record from that 2011-12 season.CCNY’s loss saw the Beavers stick with the defending CUNYAC champion Cardinals throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, even taking a three point lead on a layup by center Robert Machecek, putting City up 18-15 with 10:18 left. After both teams traded small runs throughout the following 3:42 to tie the game at 23 each, York’s Taron Pascal nailed a jumper to put the Cardinals up 25-23, sparking a 12-2 run for the Cardinals to end the half and giving the Cardinals a lead they would hold onto throughout the rest of the game.“It’s really frustrating,” Green said after the game. “I thought we played a lot better in the second half than the first.”The Beavers, statistically, did have a better second half than the first, despite allowing the Cardinals to open on a 13-7 run and allowing them to go up by as much as 22 with 5:49 left.“I feel like these guys are just not performing the way I want them to play,” Green added.“When it comes to a game situation, we don’t move the ball the way we should, we just don’t play the same way we practice.“We’re just not clicking.”CCNY shot 40 percent from the court in the second half, and tied the Cardinals in second half points with 35. The biggest difference in the game was York’s 12-2 run to end the first half, along with City’s 13 turnovers, which York scored 15 points off of.Khalil Hamer scored a game-high 23 points while Anthony Lewis scored a season-low 12 points on 6-for-14 shooting performance with 13 rebounds. Once again, Hamer and Lewis were the only Beavers to score in double digits.“It’s disappointing,” Hamer said after the game. “We’ve just got to go to practice and work on the fundamentals so we can go out and execute.”At 1-9 in the CUNYAC, the Beavers are in dead last in the conference, trailing Medgar Evers by half-a-game (MEC is 1-8 in the CUNYAC). However, they are going to take on a Hunter College team that has been on the decline, losing their last five in a row entering Wednesday night’s matchup.The Hawks defeated the Beavers 77-64 back on Dec. 12.