Photo by Curtis Ashley / Beaver Beat
By Curtis AshleySports WriterAfter finding themselves in a hole, the City College Men's basketball team immediately turn things around. The guys have now won two in-a-row, their latest win coming on the road against the Hawks of Hunter College. They defeated them Wednesday night, with a final score of 84-73.This makes two game days in a row that both of City's basketball teams won back-to-back. After the girls extended their winning streak to five, the guys have begun a new one, after suffering three straight losses. This win gives them the season sweep against Hunter, who they defeated earlier in the season, 72-66. This is the team's first win streak since beating the College of Staten Island and Medgar Evers earlier this month. City's record is now at 11-8 overall, with a 6-5 CUNYAC record.Khalil Hamer had 22 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, all the team high. David Solano and Blake Borysewicz both had 14 points. Solano's came from 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arch, while Borysewicz's went a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line."In the locker room right now, we've got a lot of confidence," Hamer said after the game. "Coming off these two back-to-back wins, these are huge for us and our momentum."Mark Richards also had a big game, with 13 points, and six rebounds."I'm pretty content. I could always play better. As long as we get the win, that's the most important thing with the team," Richards had to say about his performance in the win. "Playing wise, I just gotta make sure I do my part during the game. Make sure I'm effective, inside and out, defense and offense."As a whole, they guys shot well from the field. Their good shooting is what got them a 43-24 halftime lead. Their defense was average, but Hunter's inability to make some of their shots allowed City to create such a big lead. The second half told a different story though. Once again, City found themselves having to battle hard to remain in the lead, while their opponent was doing all they could to get back in it. Hunter's choice of weapon: the three-ball. In the second half alone, Hunter made eight three point shots. Their shooting percentage saw a significant rise after a sluggish first half. But none of this was enough to get the lead at any point. City maintained a lead of at least 10 for a majority of the half. The lead came to eight for a brief moment, but City patched that up quickly."Very pleased with the outcome of the game. Shooting over fifty percent is a really good thing," Head Coach Tom Green said in a post-game interview. "Shooting's been a big part of what we're doing during this intersession period.""I wasn't happy with our defense in the second half. We ended up giving up forty-eight, forty-nine points in the second half. Way too many points, gave them way to many open looks."This game, even with the win, adds to a growing list of games for they guys i which they have some problems closing out. This has cost them games in some cases, such as the loss to Brooklyn College. Of their last eight games, six of them have been decided by less than 10 points. Of those six, City has only won two. It's a trend that they need to let go of as soon as possible, especially looking ahead at the next team they face, Lehman College.Saturday's road game against Lehman will be the second match-up between the two. The first was a heart-breaker for City, losing 69-70. Lehman is currently second in the conference, with a record of 8-3 in the CUNYAC, and 14-6 overall."It just comes down to defense. Our coaches, they stress defense to us everyday in practice. We've gotta play the first half like we do the second half and vise versa," Hamer said, regarding what the team needs to do to get a win on Saturday. "We gotta make sure we're getting good shots in our offense, and just make sure we're being selfless with the basketball."In the last match-up between the two, City was able to share the ball better than them, with 10 assists, compared to four by Lehman. Statistically, Lehman played better defense than City, holding them to .353 shooting from the field, as well as notching more blocks and steals. City will have to work on their defense, as well as keep up every other level of their play, heading into the Saturday showdown.