CUNYAC Sports: Basketball

Art by Nafissatou Yattassaye

Editor's Note: The Paper is not affiliated with CUNYAC. These reports are independent and meant to provide a recap of the games our reporter attends.

By Nafissatou Yattassaye

CUNYAC Sports Series Weekend (11/14-11/16) Recap: Basketball 

Our CCNY Beavers kicked off their first season tournaments this weekend, both going 0-2 on the women's and men’s side. On the women’s side, games were held at St. Joseph's University in Brooklyn, where the Beavers faced two talented teams: St.Joseph Long Island and the host team, St.Joseph Brooklyn. Through the endless hustle shown throughout both ends of the floor, the Beavers were only able to score 13.6 % from the field compared to St. Joseph Long Island’s 32.9% from the field to start the weekend off. In their second matchup of the weekend, the Beavers were able to pick up their offense, averaging 30.4% from the field, but that wasn’t enough to keep up with their second opponent, St. Joseph Brooklyn, who was 42.3% from the field. Despite the final scores, the Beavers continue to show improvement and resilience as the season starts to really settle in. Our women's CCNY Beavers play at home this Wednesday, November 19th, at 7 pm against New Jersey City University.

Similarly, on the men’s side, this weekend’s battle was held at the Greg Grant Tip-off Tournament, where they faced two talented teams, TCNJ and Johnson & Wales. There was a constant back-and-forth battle throughout the night. In the first matchup against TCNJ, the Beavers shot 46.7% from the field compared to TCNJ’s 53.6% shooting from the field to give them the lead in all 4 quarters, ultimately leading to their first loss of the weekend.  In the second matchup against Johnson & Wales, the Beavers were neck and neck with the Wildcats, only falling short 5 points and shooting 41.7% from the field compared to the Wildcats’ 52.1% field goal percentage. Despite their loss, the Beavers are a gritty, hungry team that continues to learn and grow underneath their new head coach, Daniel Colon. Our men's CCNY Beavers play on Wednesday, November 19th, at Quinnipiac University, at 7 pm.

CUNYAC: Women’s Basketball - CCNY vs Farmingdale

The 2025 CCNY Women’s Basketball opener was held at Farmingdale, showcasing a young and fairly new yet hungry roster. Freshman point guard Blessings Joseph-Pascall, from Brooklyn Law and Tech, ended the game with 11 points,  3 assists, and 3 steals. Leading the Beavers was junior Ashley Colon, adding a season high of 15 points so far, hitting 3-10 from the three-point line to close gaps throughout the game against a fearless Farmingdale squad. Senior guard Joscelyn Ramos also added a significant 11 points, 6-7 shooting from the free throw line. Sophomore Ashley Subervi added an extra 6 points off the bench for the Beavers when they began to close the lead, ending in the third quarter 36-46 in favor of Farmingdale. However, despite the final score of 43-68 Farmingdale, this new beavers team is showing grit and chemistry development.

CUNYAC: Men’s Basketball: CCNY vs Cairn

CCNY Men’s Basketball had their season debut at Cairn University, looking to start their season off with a win. CCNY is led by Daniel Colon, who entered his first year leading the Beavers, and through recruiting and practices, he is looking to shape the program and has high hopes for this fairly young squad. A tough battle between the Beavers and the Highlanders was fought from the start of the first half. The Highlanders, a gritty and hungry young program led by head coach Jason O’Connell, shot 58.2% from the floor compared to the Beavers’ 40.3% shooting from the floor. The Highlanders crashed the boards against the Beavers 28-21 on defensive rebound attempts while the Beavers out rebounded the Highlanders 6-5 through offensive rebound attempts. The CCNY Beavers were led by senior guard Justin Morety, scoring 20 points, racking up 3 steals and 3 assists. Senior Michael Bowman followed with an extra 18 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Despite the final score, 71-102 in favor of Cairn, this was a great first match up against the Highlanders to start the season off Monday evening. The CCNY Beavers play at the College of New Jersey this weekend from November 15-16 hoping to get their first win of the season.

CUNYAC: Women’s Basketball: CCNY vs Old Westbury

CCNY Women's basketball were looking for their first win of the season against SUNY Old Westbury on Wednesday evening. CCNY, led by Marcello Di Russo who enters his fifth year with the Beavers, and currently in his  second year as the head coach after being the assistant coach for three. He leads a fairly young team but with great upside and grit. A tough neck and neck battle was fought against the Panthers throughout all four quarters. The Panthers, a tough and young squad coached by Joe Pellicane, led the game shooting 28.8% from the floor compared to the Beavers’ 21.8% shooting from the floor. The Panthers had a shooting day going for themselves on their season debut shooting 20% from the three point line compared to the Beavers’ 5% from three. The CCNY Beavers were led by junior shooting guard Ashley Colon scoring 12 points and shooting 100 % from the free throw line.  Freshman guards Blessings Joseph-Pascall and Yazmin Loma Romero put up 8 points each to add to Colon’s 12. Despite the final score 39-43 in favor of Old Westbury, the Beavers put up a great fight up against the Panthers and will continue to compete. The CCNY Beavers play this Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15, at St. Joseph University, looking to get their first win of the season.

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Nafissatou Yattassaye is a freshman at City College, majoring in Communications with a

concentration in Journalism. Writing allows her to escape reality and enter a realm where

she is free to express her creativity through words and phrases with simply the ink of her

pen!