The City College of New York men's basketball team (2-11 Overall, 0-3 CUNYAC) is still searching for its first victory in conference play for the 2010-2011 campaign, as the Beavers played their hearts out but came up short in falling to the Hawks of Hunter College (7-5 Overall, 2-1 CUNYAC) by a score of 73-70 in overtime in a thrilling contest played at the Nat Holman Gymnasium in Upper Manhattan.
After both teams failed to score for the first 3:31 of the opening session, the Beavers would finally get on the scoreboard first when Brendan Barile would bury a three-point basket to score the game's first points and give his team an early advantage. Hunter College would then score eight of the game's next 12 points, jumping ahead by a score of 8-7 with 12:18 remaining in the period. Following a 6-0 run by CCNY that would the Beavers up by five points at the 10:54 mark of the half, Hunter would complete the session by out-scoring CCNY 18-8 the rest of the way to take a 26-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, Hunter seemed to have complete control of the conference contest, holding a 51-43 lead with just 7:59 to play, but the Beavers would put together a run from there. After a made free throw by Derell Williams, Terence Johnston would convert on a layup to bring CCNY to within five points with 7:08 to go. 2:41 later, the Beavers would tie the game on a layup by Matas Rascius, and the contest was all knotted at 51 apiece.
The Beavers would finally reclaim the lead when – with the game tied at 53 – Rascius would bury a jumper – putting City College up two. The Hawks would strike right back though, as Maxwell Dubois would drain a long three-point basket to give Hunter its lead back, 56-55, with 2:56 remaining.
As the drama continued to build, Hunter College would find themselves up one point, 57-56, with Jason Cole heading to the charity stripe for two shots with 10 seconds remaining in the game. After he made both free throws, Wayne Backus would inbound the ball to Kenny Rubenstein who would race down the floor and pull up for what appeared to be a three-point attempt. He was fouled on the play, and the ball swished through the net, sending CCNY players, fans, and coaches into a frenzy as it appeared as though the Beaver standout had indeed tied the game, but the officials ruled the shot a two-point bucket, and it was up to Rubenstein to drill the free throw in order to tie the game. He did just that, and then Cole's three-point attempt from 40 feet out was off the mark as the buzzer sounded. The game was heading to overtime tied at 59-all.
The Hawks started the extra session on an 8-1 run, taking a 67-60 lead with 2:57 to go in the game. The Beavers would not quit, though, putting together an 8-2 run to pull to within one point – 69-68 – with just 1:23 left. Later in the overtime, with Hunter leading the game by a score of 72-70 and 15 seconds remaining, Rubenstein would drive to the basket and lose the ball, as Hunter's Mark Courtien came up with the steal and was fouled with 0.2 to go. He would make one of two free throws, and CCNY wasn't able to get a shot off, as Hunter went on for the 73-70 victory.
In the win for the Hawks, Maxwell Dubois had a very interesting evening to say the least. He posted a double-double, nailing nine of his 19 attempts from the floor and dropping in a game-high 26 points (including four three-point baskets) grabbing 10 rebounds and three blocks. On the flip side, he also missed seven free throws (4-11 FT) and committed a team-high five turnovers. Courtien came off of the bench to hit three triples and account for 14 points and three rebounds, and Cole added 12 off of the bench in 18 minutes of action.
For the Beavers, it was Rubenstein coming off of the bench to nail seven of his 20 shots and post a team-high 18 points to go along with four assists. Barile played well also, contributing 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals, and Johnston finished his evening with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
The Beavers will now have six days off before returning to action on Wednesday, January 12th, as the team heads to the doghouse to face the John Jay College Bloodhounds in another CUNYAC contest, with start-time scheduled for 7:00pm.