MBB: City University of New York Athletic Conference

[xalva66]

Saw Hunter loose a close game to Rutgers-Newark by 2. Really good game which saw many lead changes. The biggest lead for either team throughout the night was 7.

[Rhodes Scholar]

I saw Wheaton, IL beat Baruch, 75-66, last night. Wheaton led all the way and dominated on the boards, but could not break the game wide open. Baruch hung in there and were down by only four--with possession--with three minutes to go. Carl Emengo had an excellent game for the Bearcats and Adrian Serrano put in a nice effort as well. Once again, George Kunkel did not play due to a wrist injury.

Here's my take on Wheaton: The Thunder are well-coached and disciplined. They are big and pretty physical. They have quite a few good outside shooters. They move the ball well and set a lot of screens. They are not very athletic; many of their players are slow and almost robotic. Their big men were not that effective in the low post, although they did get a fair amount of garbage baskets. They were often unable to take advantage of double teaming and cheating because of their slow reaction times. I was expecting a bit more from them, but it was only one game. It should also be noted that they were without the services of their leading scorer, Kent Raymond, due to injury.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Last night, I saw Hunter defeat Lehman, 79-69. Hunter led 28-27 at the half, but scored 51 points in the second half and broke it open down the stretch. Chris Bernard, who went scoreless in the opening stanza, hit five three pointers in the second half and finished with 22 points. Chris Garrick and Lance Evans also played well for the Hawks. Lehman was led by Lenny Gonzalez and Duane Rhoden, both of whom scored 19 points.

I haven't seen CSI yet, but it looks like Hunter could be the second-best team in CUNY this year. York might be number one, but Hunter isn't that far behind. Bernard is one of the best players in the conference and Garrick is also very good. Lance Evans is athletic and is a pretty good shooter as well. Their big weakness is a lack of size and bulk. They have trouble defending against a good low-post player. In addition, they have no low-post scorers of their own. They don't have a great bench by any means, but their subs are much better than they've been in recent years.

[xalva66]

Saw Hunter defeat Brooklyn tonight. The game went back and forth for the first half and even a little part of the second half but then Hunter exploded and went up by 20+. They start a very tough stretch starting next Saturday when they play CSI, NYU, Medgar Evers and Lehman on the road. NYU is ranked in the top 20. CSI is always solid, Medgar has been competitive this year and Lehman was a tough game before. The next 9 games are going to be tough and will depict how good this team can be throughout the season. As I have stated before I think they are definitely one of the top teams in CUNY. At this pace Hunter can turn back into a powerhouse that they were when Ray Amalbert was coaching there, years ago.

[Coach AG]

DOLPHINS OUTPLAY CARDINALS, BUT DROP CONFERENCE TILT

The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team (6-5 Overall, 3-1 CUNYAC) dropped an intense conference tilt to southern-division rival York College (8-6 Overall, 3-0 CUNYAC), falling to the Cardinals by a score of 69-57 Friday evening at the York College Gymnasium in Jamaica, NY.

The Dolphins used a tremendous team effort in the first half of action. Junior guard Robert Mesjasz scored a team-high 11 points, senior guard Mike Jones and freshman guard Christian Montervino each dropped in six points, and sophomore center Sean Weismuller netted six points. Thanks to a stingy defense and an unselfish attitude on the offense, CSI entered the locker room with a 12 point advantage, 39-27.

The second half of action saw the Cardinals stage a comeback, eventually taking the lead 51-50 with 4:11 seconds to go, thanks to a layup by senior forward Dennis Echols. The Dolphins would retake the lead, however, as Mesjasz drained a three-pointer from the right-corner, putting CSI up two, 53-51, with 3:42 remaining in the contest.

York would take the lead for good, however, thanks to senior forward Jeremy Boone converting on a three-point play. At that point, the Cardinals had a 54-53 advantage with 2:28 remaining. Just over a minute later, things began to crumble for CSI. Weismuller, with his team down three points, 57-54, was called for an offensive foul, his fifth foul of the contest. Weismuller's frustration eventually earned him a technical foul and an ejection. Boone stepped to the line with 56 seconds remaining and drilled the first of two free throws. Following that, a dispute between CSI Head Coach Tony Petosa and the referees began to escalate, and Petosa received consecutive technical fouls and was ejected from the contest.

From there, the Cardinals took advantage of their free-throw opportunities, nailing ten shots from the charity stripe and eventually picking the victory.

Boone led the way for the Cardinals, scoring a team-high 20 points. Echols also chipped in with a strong performance, netting 19 points. In a losing effort for CSI, Mesjasz led the way with a team-high 19 points.

CSI will hope to bounce back on Monday evening as they host the Steven's Institute of Technology Ducks with tip-off scheduled for 7:30pm.

[Rhodes Scholar]

I also watched the Brooklyn @ Hunter game last night. Brooklyn led 40-38 at the half, but Hunter outscored the Bridges 58-38 in the second stanza to come away with a 96-78 victory. Hunter was sluggish in the first half but was outstanding after the break. The Hawks wore Brooklyn down and ran them into the ground. Once again, this Hunter team has far more talent and depth than they've had in recent years.

York, Hunter, and CSI are probably the three best teams in CUNY this year. The injury to Kunkel has clearly hurt Baruch and Lehman is struggling. CCNY looks like they could be the fourth best team.

[TheBeast]

well its been a while since i been on here i was tryninng to wait to if anything good would in cuny but nothing chang York is now 10-6 (5-0) in conference i saw them Csi and Baruch they started off slow both games and wone the both. it looks like york have found them self a sharp shooter Mr lights out Wilson has turn it on from downtown where did this come from. the frist half of the season he barley shot any 3's now he letting go of them. Echols and Boone are still ballin as well but there Point Guard Mike needs to be a Damn Point Guard and run is team thats his job if he can do that the york would be unstopable. Because they have one of the best Coaching staffes in cuny and one happens to be a women thats very weird but yet  impressive go ms lady york coach. and the head coach he looks like he really have his team finally coming around at the right time coach St John i wonder how many games he have won coaching at york well that enough for the day York is the Power House of the Cuny and Every one knows it they have turn it now to seperated themselves from the rest of the pack. Hunter might lose to Csi tonight let see wut happen to be cont.

[xalva66]

Beast,
I agree with your assestment and I do recognize York as one of the top teams in CUNY. I mean there is a long way before Hunter plays York and there are many other CUNY games in between. In my eyes, if Hunter continues to win then that game will state who the Power House in the CUNY conference is. Throw out the fact that York has won and been competitive in quality NON-CUNY games. I havent seen their CUNY games but they beat Lehman, CSI, Baruch and Medgar all between 11-14 points. Obviously these are convinving wins (and I did not see these games and do not know if they were blow outs) but they they do not look like "Head Above Shoulder" wins.

Ron St John has done a massively well done job, bringing his program to elite status but Nick Plevritis at Hunter has taken a team from a 3-22 record to 10-3 record as we speak. If the season were to end now, I dont think there is any way that you could not give him Coach Of The Year honors but the season is only halfway through and the playoffs are where the real teams shine.

Hunter @ CSI is on Saturday (tomorrow) at 2:00 and not tonight. I expect it to be a very competitive game down to the wire.

[TheBeast]

you are right i never said that the york coach was gonna get coach of the yr but you have to see it from my view york has the size and now they have a shooter being born in wilson now if simpson can get out of his funk know one could go zone on them anymore and hunter wont be able to guard york big man especially echols one on one but i have to give credit to hunter they are the most improve team in the cuny them and york are the two best team as we speak and if they bout keep win i think that we might get a preview of the playoof champsionship game. hunter have 10 wins but they didnt play them teams that york played as of this yr york had the toughest schedule in the cuny and i feel that why they are 5-0 in conf play and might even go undefeated as well.

[xalva66]

I think the only common quality Non-Conference team that both Hunter and York have played was Rutgers-Newark where both teams lost by single digits, Hunter by 2 and York by 6. Echols creates a tough matchup for many teams not just for Hunter. It will be interesting to see that game but like I said, this all may be talk right now if either of the two teams lose any conference games before their matchup. York has to play CCNY before their matchup and Hunter has to play CSI, Lehman, Medgar, CCNY and Baruch before they play York. All five games are extremely tough games.

[Coach AG]

DOLPHINS SUFFER HEARTBREAKING DEFEAT TO HAWKS IN CUNY SHOWDOWN
Blackett suffers injury, doesn't play in second half   


The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team (6-8 Overall, 3-2 CUNYAC) lost a heartbreaking game, falling to conference rival Hunter College (11-3 Overall, 5-0 CUNYAC) by a score of 69-68 Saturday afternoon at the Sports and Recreation Center in Willowbrook, NY.

Things looked promising for CSI early on, as the Dolphins took an early 8-2 advantage and eventually built their lead up to 16, 41-25, with 1:22 remaining in the first half. The Hawks, however, would close out the first half with a 6-0 run, cutting their deficit to 10. As the teams headed into the locker room at halftime, the Dolphins led by 10, 41-31. CSI was firing on all cylinders in the first half, knocking down 64.5 percent of their shots while also dishing 16 assists in the game's first twenty minutes. Junior forward Gari Blackett led the CSI with 12 points and eight rebounds at the half while junior guard Chris Bernard paced the Hawks with 11 points and two caroms.

In the second half, the Hawks remained persistent, using hustle and success from three-point range to battle their way back into the game. The Hawks connected on 6 of their 11 attempts from behind the arc, while CSI shot just 2-of-10 from behind the arc. The game was seemingly in control for the Dolphins after sophomore center Sean Weismuller hit a layup to give CSI a seven-point advantage, 68-61, with 2:05 remaining. The Hawks, however, remainded patient and persistent, outscoring CSI 8-0 over the final two minutes of play, a stretch that was highlighted by sophomore forward Lance Evans' three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining. Following the trey, the Hawks held a 69-68 advantage. The Dolphins had a final chance to win the game in the final five seconds, but freshman guard Ryan Hennessey's three pointer came up short, sending the Hawks players and coaches into a frenzy.

Bernard led the way for the Hawks, scoring a game-high 23 points to along with six rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Gerard Ciarleglio chipped in as well with a fine all-around performance, dropping in 12 points to along with six rebounds and two assists. In a losing effort for the Dolphins, Weismuller dropped in 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds. In addition, junior guard Robert Mesjasz chipped in with 17 points and eight caroms.

On a side note, junior forward Gari Blackett suffered an apparent injury late in the first half and did not return for the second half of play. His status for future games is unknown at this point.

CSI will look to halt their three-game losing skid as they travel to Kean University for a matinee matchup with the Cougars on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with tip-off scheduled for 2pm.

[TheBeast]

York College won another game today by 20pts as they beat city tech in a game where i think city tech had no chance. Hunter won by a point  to Csi and i think york beat them by more then one but the big picture is that they won. York college Pg Mike had 15asst wow that what i mean by  leading ur team to victory i really enjoy the game today now york face ramapoo which is gonna be a tough game lets see wut happens

[xalva66]

Beast,

You are correct that Hunter only by 1 and that York won by 12. A win is a win and you can never say that one team is better because they beat a common opponent by a larger score. If you go by this theory then Hunter lost to Rutgers-Newark by a lesser margin than York did. In any case, if you saw the game, you would have noticed that the last 6 minutes of the game was one of the most poorly refereed games that one has ever seen. The foul situation in the second was 13-6 where Hunter was called for 13 fouls. Sean Weismuller played well for CSI and was not called for two possible charges when he had 4 fouls. With all this said and Chris Bernard fouling out with 4 or so minutes left in the game. Hunter came roaring back on the back of Lance Evans' two three-pointers with less than two minutes to play. Like I said in my previous post, Hunter has an extremely tough stretch CUNY stretch over the next 4 or 5 games not including their game on Monday at NYU. It was a very very well fought win for Hunter who battled back from being down by 14 or so close to the half but as the post said Hunter was very resilient throughout the game. The same situation came about when they played FDU-Florham and were down by 20 or so in the second half but won the game by 2.

[TheBeast]

am not saying bc hunter beat csi by 1 york is better iam gonna say this both are good i liike them both the win there divison but who do u think would do better in the NCAA tournment york or hunter? i just like york because how they are build they have size and now shooters. i just like yor i saw a couple of there games i havent seen hunter play as of yet but a win is a win both teams have tough games on monday. and both teams are representing the cuny well this yr. have yo seen any yorks games this yr they play ccny home   wed come and see wut i see.

[Coach AG]

Some noticable observations from the CSI vs Hunter game.  Gari Blackett the leagues leading rebounder and shot blocker had 12pts. and 8 rebounds in the first half and CSI was up by 10 at the break.  However Blackett did not play the second half due to some sort of injury and CSI barely lost without one of their best players by a single point.  You have to believe that with Blackett in the lineup the outcome of this game would have been different.  Another thing that jumps out is CSI shot a horrible 3 for 18 from the line, this is something that has plagued them in recent games.  If the Dolphins make just half of there freebies they win the game.  No excuses though, if Blackett returns CSI still has to be considered a contender for the league even though they are one of the youngest teams in the conference.