Men’s Basketball Season Crashes to End at Baruch

If there’s any bright side to the CCNY Men’s Basketball team’s loss at Baruch Sunday evening, it’s that they don’t have to endure the suffering of the season anymore.After numerous injuries, a few losing streaks and just one disappointment after another, City’s season ended in Lower Manhattan Sunday after the Beavers lost 72-55 to the Bearcats in the CUNYAC quarterfinals, their third straight loss in the opening round of the tournament in the four-year, Tom Green era.“They’re a very good team, very well coached,” Green mentioned.While both teams went back and forth in the first half, with City trailing by only six, 36-30, the Bearcats took charge in the second half, outscoring the Beavers 36-25 in the final frame, holding City to just seven point in the first 13 minutes of the half.CCNY shot just 25.8 percent from the court in the second half (8-for-31) and were held to just a 3-for-16 performance from beyond the arc.“We couldn’t buy a basket,” Green explained.  “We just could make a shot.   We got some opportunities for some good shots, but Baruch’s defense is one of the top three or four defensive teams in America.“We knew coming in if Baruch shoots close to 50 percent it’s going to be a long day for us.”Baruch shot 51.1 percent from the court for the game, exactly 50 percent in the second half.“Any loss is a disappointment,” senior Anthony Lewis said.“Knowing Baruch is a pretty good team and we played a hell of a first half, to melt down in that second half is a disappointment to us, the coaching staff and to the fans.”In his final career game as a Beaver, Lewis recorded one last double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  Sophomore Khalil Hamer led the Beavers in scoring with 15 points while David Solano scored 14 and Ram Chadha scored 11.  While City had four players score in double digits those four were just four of five players to score overall Sunday.  Blake Borysewicz scored two points to round out City’s scoring line.“Our intensity didn’t match theirs [in the second half],” Lewis explained.  “They came out more aggressive, they had home court advantage, they’re the No. 1 seed, they had hype from the fans and hype from their bench.”City took a few early leads in the first half and went up by one twice off of a pair of Solano free throws midway through the first half.  However, Baruch rallied with a 14-point run to take the lead, however the Beavers scored seven unanswered points in the final two minutes to cut the halftime hole to just six.The Bearcats opened the second half on a 20-7 run in the first 10 minutes to take a big double digit lead and secure the win.