BROOKLYN, NY -- Despite a double-double from
Yassine Sakhi (New York, NY), the City College of New York men's basketball team (0-6) dropped an 80-65 decision against host St. Joseph's Brooklyn (4-1) at the Hill Center on Saturday afternoon. Sakhi finished with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for CCNY's second double-double of the season.
Sakhi joins
Isaiah Denard (Staten Island, NY), who had 11 points and 10 boards in the season opener at Saint Elizabeth on Nov. 9, as the only Beavers to post double-doubles this year.
Romello Rashad (New York, NY) contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, and
Daniel Piszczatowski (Middle Village, NY) tallied 14 points.
Peter Talbot (Elizabeth, NJ), meanwhile, notched eight points in his collegiate debut. The Beavers shot 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field, 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from long range, and 75 percent (6-of-8) at the free throw line.
Stephane Etheart led the Bears with a game-high 22 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Dimitri Sirakis added 16 points, while Frank Reali tallied 11 points and five steals. Chris Edwards registered 10 points, six boards and three assists off the bench, and Sebastien Etheart finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Kavan Meiner, meanwhile, secured 11 rebounds for St. Joseph's Brooklyn, which had a 43-37 edge on the glass. The Bears went 29-for-72 (40.3 percent) from the floor, 7-for-20 (35 percent) from downtown, and 15-for-20 (75 percent) at the charity stripe.
It was a 7-7 game when
Isaiah Williams (Bronx, NY) hit a jumper and Sakhi drained a trey to give the Beavers a five-point lead, 12-7, with 15:56 left in the first half. After a Piszczatowski jumper put CCNY up 14-9 with 12:37 remaining until halftime, St. Joseph's Brooklyn rattled off eight of the next 10 points to pull ahead. The Bears extended the margin to 16 points, 43-27, before a Denard layup and a pair of Rashad free throws cut the Beavers' deficit to 43-31 at the break.
CCNY trimmed the margin to nine, 51-42, on a layup by Rashad at the 14:39 mark, then got within five when a Piszczatowski jumper made it 57-52 with 8:54 left. However, the Bears responded with a 15-5 run to bring their lead back to 15 points, 72-57, with 5:40 to go. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way, as St. Joseph's Brooklyn earned an 80-65 victory.
The Beavers return to action on Tuesday, when they visit the College of Staten Island (2-4) for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. The contest will follow the CCNY-Staten Island women's game, which gets underway at 5:30 p.m.
