Photo by Curtis Ashley / Beaver Beat
By Curtis AshleySports WriterAfter the City College Men's basketball team beat the Dolphins of CSI in early January, there might have been some thought that they could run with the big dogs of the league, or perhaps the 'Bulldogs'. That idea was shot down after the ugly loss in Brooklyn, and was further supported by the recent loss at Lehman, But things came full circle for the Beavers on Tuesday night, when the team was handed another loss, by the Dolphins. From a scoring standpoint, it's their worst loss of the season, falling by 19 points with a final score of 82-63.City is currently sitting at the number six spot in the conference. Two of the three remaining conference opponents they face are now ahead of them in the standings (Baruch and Medgar Evers). They now sport an 11-10 overall record, and have fallen below .500 in the conference with a 6-7 CUNYAC record. The Beavers this season have not been more than one game over or under the .500 mark.Khalil Hamer played the entire duration of the game, allowing him to score the game-high 24 points. He also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Mark Richards was the only other player on the team to score in double-digits, with 10 points, along with five rebounds."The only guy that I could say that played good for us for a forty-minute stretch was Khalil," Head Coach Tom Green said in a post-game interview. "Just a bad night for everybody to bring out not their A-game, not even their B-game, their C-game."The first half wasn't too shabby for the Beavers. They shot forty percent from the field, and were active on defense. They forced eight turnovers, three of those coming off steals. That said, the team didn't perform well overall. CSI jumped out in front early, Will Fonseca scoring the opening points off a layup in the first five seconds. For the most part, the teams played at the same level. The halftime score of 31-30, City with the advantage, reflects that.After halftime, things changed in the game. For larger part of the half, City continued to battle it out with CSI, keeping up with them. At about the ten-minute mark, CSI got on a roll. The Dolphins would go on a 17-5 run, making the score 70-55, and taking over four minutes off the clock. After that, City found no way of getting back in the game. Turnovers and personal fouls started coming more than shots, and the game was lost before the buzzer ever sounded."It's the worst loss of the season only because of the numbers. Numbers are what they are, that we lost by twenty, but this wasn't a twenty-point game when it's all said and done. A loss is still a loss," Green said."It's disappointing to lose any game. I feel like at this point every game is going to matter a lot to our seating and our momentum going into the tournament. I think we just gotta go back in to practice," Hamer said after the game. "We just got to focus. These last couple of games are going to be a really important stretch for us."There's never any time to think about what might have happened, only time to focus on the next game, and for the guys, it's coming soon. They face USMMA on Saturday, at home. That game will be their final home game, as well as their final non-conference match-up."I think every game is an important game, cause like Coach says, 'the next game is the most important game cause it's the next game'. Yes it would help us on Saturday, but we look at every game as a must-win, because that's what we need for the playoffs," Salvatore Palazzolo commented.A win against USMMA won't raise their conference record, but it will give the team the confidence they need to face their next conference opponent, Baruch. The last time CCNY faced USMMA was in the 2011-2012 season, losing 45-72. But this is a new team, and it's time to say hello to some old friends.