Photo by Curtis Ashley / Beaver Beat
By Curtis AshleySports WriterA win is a win, even when it comes against the worst team in your conference. For the City College Men's basketball team, that team was the John Jay Bloodhounds, and even though they gave them their first win of the season, it's never too late to turn things around. In this case, it's been over two months since these two teams played, but City learned from their mistakes, taking down John Jay with a final score of 82-71.This win is just their second in the last five games, but it comes at a time when the team needed it the most. City's overall record improves to 13-11, with a conference record of 7-8. No matter what happens in their last game, the Beavers will finish over .500 for the first time in over a decade, and for the first time in the Tom Green era. The team is currently sixth in the conference."I think we have turned a corner for sure, I'm really pleased with that," Coach Green had to say had to say after the game. "We got a lot of juniors on the team. I think next year is going to be a positive year for us as well. I'm pleased with the way we're playing."It was the juniors Green spoke of that really made a difference in the game. Khalil Hamer had 15 points and 11 rebounds, making for his fourth double-double of the season. He also had eight assists, nearly making it a triple-double. Mark Richards had 14 points and seven rebounds, numbers that he continues to put up each game.David Solano scored the game-high 20 points, on a night where he went 6-of-8 from beyond the arch. Ram Chadha and Che McCoy also had significant offensive production, scoring 10 points each."It feels very refreshing, very relieving," Solano mentioned on his own performance in the game. "It's a great confidence booster, especially going into Tuesday."The team overall shot the ball well, averaging .492 for the night. They went 10-for-18 from downtown, one of their hottest three-point outputs of the season. The guys were also being generous with the ball, notching 21 assists while John Jay only had eight. It was certainly their offense that won it for them, as there wasn't much to praise them for concerning their defense. John Jay forced more turnovers, including stealing the ball. The Bloodhounds forced 15 turnovers, nine of them off steals. City College only forced 12 turnovers, four of them off stripped-balls.The win against John Jay in the Doghouse is the first time City has pulled this off since the '09-'10 season, when City won 73-72. This adds to the long list of milestones this team has been putting together all season. The next team the guys face will be the last one before the beginning of the tournament, and the last time they bet them, home or away, wasn't nearly as long ago. City faces Medgar Evers, a team they have already defeated this season. But Medgar is a team on the rise, after defeating the likes of Brooklyn, Baruch and others. They are on a five-game winning streak, and would surely like to end the season with a revenge win against City t home. It's going to be up to the Beavers to foil their plans, while increasing their own rep simultaneously.