Men’s Basketball Ends Two-Game Skid, Defeats St. Joseph’s Long Island

 BY Jeff WeisingerSenior Sports Editor For three of the first four games of the season, CCNY’s Men’s Basketball team had trouble starting on the right note. That theme changed quickly in City’s 69-62 win over St. Joseph’s Long Island in Patchogue on Saturday afternoon, ending their brief two-game losing streak.“Last two or three games we’ve gotten off to terrible starts,” head coach Tom Green said afterwards. “Obviously, that’s been a point of emphasis the past few games.“We got some good shot opportunities and we were able to score as a result of it. I told the guys afterwards, ‘there’s a whole different feeling of being 3-2 than there is being 2-3.’”David Solano scored a team-high 20 points on a 7-for-12 effort from the court and a 5-for-6 performance from the free throw line. Robert Dionisio racked his first double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and bringing down 14 rebounds, while Mark Richards scored 12.City also got 24 points from the bench on Saturday, opposed to the zero that St. Joseph’s bench put up.The Beavers (3-2, 0-1 CUNYAC) took an early jump, dominating most of the first half as they opened the game on a 29-9 run. St. Joe’s shot just 20 percent in the first half, however created numerous shot opportunities, but nothing was falling through the net. City, on the other hand, shot 48 percent from the court and went into the locker rooms at halftime with a 31-21 lead. Despite the early jump by City, the Golden Eagles finished the half on a 12-2 run in the final six minutes to cut the CCNY lead in half.St. Joe’s came out strong in the second half, taking advantage of missed shots by City and came back to tie the game at 49, then took a brief one-point, 52-51 lead with just over six minutes to go on a three-pointer by Dominique Spann. A layup by Dionisio gave the Beavers the lead right back on the following possession and the Beavers would survive a few scares before a pair of Solano free throws sealed City’s win in the final seconds.CCNY takes on Touro College on Monday night at 7 p.m. at home in the Nat Holman Gym.“We got to totally refocus,” Green said on the quick turnaround to Monday night’s game. “They’re a totally new program. We need to have a good practice [Sunday].”