The City College of New York men's basketball team (2-9 Overall, 0-2 CUNYAC) dropped its ninth consecutive game on Saturday, falling to Catholic University (9-2 Overall) in the opening round of the Residence Inn Greenbelt Classic by a score of 60-42 in Washington, DC.

The Beavers stayed close in the contest for a session and a half, finding themselves down only five points - 39-34 - with 12:25 to go in the game. From there, though, it was all Cardinals as Catholic University pulled away, finishing the game on an impressive 21-8 run to advance to Sunday's championship game.

In the victory for the Cardinals it was Jason Banzhaf posting game-highs in points with 23 and rebounds with 12. The standout connected on eight of his 13 attempts from the floor while also sinking all six of his attempts from the charity stripe. On the glass, he ripped down seven offensive rebounds. He also had two steals on the day. In addition, RJ Dixon contributed with 10 points, five assists, and three rebounds, and center Pete Schram added eight points and six rebounds on the day.

Despite the loss for CCNY, center Matas Rascius led the way for his team, hitting on four of his nine attempts from the floor and finishing the night with 10 points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Senior Vincent Roberts drained three treys and completed his night with nine points and a pair of rebounds, and Xavier Gonzalez added eight points for the Beavers.

For the second consecutive game, City College was overwhelmed on the glass, as Catholic University out-rebounded the Beavers by a margin of 45-25, including a 15-8 difference on the offensive glass. The Cardinals attempted 21 free throws and drained 16 of them, while CCNY only took four free throws on the night and hit on three of those. Both teams tallied six steals on the night, and the Beavers also won the turnover battle, committing just 12 miscues on the day while the Cardinals committed 15.

With the loss, the Beavers will look to avoid seeing their losing skid extend to 10 games when the team will play Rivier College in the consolation contest of the Residence Inn Greenbelt Classic on Sunday afternoon, with start-time for the matinee game scheduled for 2:00pm.