CCNY Hoops Embarrassed in Sweep at Lehman

If both of CCNY’s basketball teams wanted to start the year on a good note, they failed, miserably.

There comes a point in any season where it’s easy to label a team “bad.”  Just flat out “bad.”If there were any teams, regardless of sport, that can define that term, the CCNY basketball programs may just be it.While Lehman entered their respective games in far better shape than City, the Beavers would've been better off tossing in the towel at halftime rather than allow the embarrassment to continue for another 20 minutes.The women's team led off the double-header, losing 85-58 against the Lady Lightning on Saturday in a game that saw the Lady Beavers allow an opponent to score over 40 points in the second half for the fourth time in the last six games, and the third straight game an opponent has scored 40 or more against CCNY."They're a really good team," CCNY women's basketball head coach Jamie Angeli said after the game.  "They've got four or five players who can score the basketball."Five players scored in double digits for Lehman on the day, led by Amely Del Rosario's 20 points followed by an 19 point outing by Karrin Walker and 17 by Jennifer Navarro.With 2:55 left in the first half, Navarro's three-pointer to put the Lady Lightning up 34-27 put Navarro is Lehman's 1,000 point club.The only standout for City was Bria Fisher, who scored a game-high 22 points on the day.CCNY  (2-10, 1-4 CUNYAC) looked sharp in the early goings, hanging onto a slim, one-point lead in the opening minutes as both teams traded baskets, and the lead back and forth.With City beginning to pull away at 13-10 midway through the first half on a 6-0 run, Lehman began to rally, tying the game at 19 after going on a 9-5 run. That's where the nightmare began.With 7:17 left in the first half, CCNY captain point guard Taylor Pompilio went down with an apparent knee injury trying to recover from a turnover after an inbound.  She was carried off and the status of her injury and a timetable for return is unavailable at press time."She was the toughest girl on our team," Angeli mentioned.  "When she went down, I think it was tough for a lot of our players.  I think with one less player in our rotation, we just wore down."With Taylor gone, other players have got to step up."City never fully responded after Pompilio went down and came out worse than flat in the second half and, while trailing 36-27 to open the second half, they allowed Lehman to open the half on a 16-5 run in the first three minutes of the frame, taking a 54-37 lead following four straight steals by the Lightning. The loss marks the Lady Beavers fourth straight loss and their sixth since defeating Yeshiva University back on Dec. 2.With The College of Staten Island coming into Harlem on Tuesday, that losing streak may hit five straight -- fast.

Men's Basketball: CCNY 51, Lehman College 68

The day didn't get better when the men's basketball team took the court.  City lost 68-51 in a game where they shot a dismal 33.9 percent from the court went just 5-for-22 from beyond the arc, had just one player score in double digits and led for all of 19 whole seconds."We just got to regroup and go back to the drawing board," CCNY men's basketball head coach Tom Green said. Khalil Hamer pushed his streak of scoring in double-digits to 11 games, scoring a game-high 16 points on a day where he shot just 4-for-14 from the court, but went 8-for-8 from the free throw line."We've been riding Khalil all season long," Green added.  "And today he has a long day shooting wise."We've been riding him all year long, he's dues to have a game like this.  Today was just one of those days."It was definitely one of those days inside the paint for the Beavers as well.  Lehman outscored CCNY 40-18 in the paint as player after player drove straight through, around and under the Beavers defense to score."It's very disappointing," David Solano said after.  Solano finished with just nine points and eight rebounds on the day.  He was the only other player that came close to scoring in double digits for City."To come out today pretty flat, it hurt us."We know we can score.  It's just a matter of putting it together and coming out there and competing."The road ahead doesn't get easier for a CCNY (4-7, 0-5 CUNYAC) team that has to rebound at home against a usually solid Staten Island team who is currently third in the conference standings.City kept close with the Lightning throughout the first half, staying within four, 27-23 with just under five minutes left.  However Lehman ended the first half on a 9-4 run to go up 36-27 at halftime.CCNY simply never got it going offensively on Saturday, a rare sight considering that the Beavers are fourth in the CUNYAC in points per game (70.5 ppg).  The 51-point offensive output is the lowest amount of points City has scored in a loss this year and the least they've scored in a loss since they lost 74-51 against CSI back on Jan. 29, 2014, at home.Let's hope Tuesday's matchup between both teams isn't a repeat.