Men's Basketball 2/7/2025 10:49:00 PM

Cougars lose pivotal CUNYAC game to Beavers; Evans Jr. scores team-high 17 points, boosting career total to 964

Box Score The Medgar Evers College men's basketball team lost a CUNYAC game on Friday evening, falling to the Beavers of CCNY by a score of 85-64. The conference clash took place at the Nat Holman Gymnasium in New York, NY. With the defeat, the Cougars dipped to a mark of 5-17 on the 2024-2025 season (3-8 CUNYAC), while the Beavers halted their five-game losing skid, improving to a record of 7-10 (4-7 CUNYAC).

Despite the loss for the Cougars, Andre Evans Jr. inched closer to 1,000 points for his Cougars career, scoring a team-high 17 points to boost his total to 964. He also grabbed four rebounds and added a pair of steals, as well. Jonathan Grimsley made his return to action, scoring 12 points while collecting a pair of boards, and Daniel McCollum finalized his evening with 10 points and four rebounds.

Three players scored 20 points or more for the victorious Beavers. Justin Morety recorded game-highs of 22 points (9-13 FG, 3-3 FT), 15 rebounds, and eight rebounds. Ricardo Dixon netted 21 points, collected eight rebounds, dished two assists, and added a steal. And finally, it was Edward Beqiri recording 20 points, six dimes, five rebounds, and two steals.

Trailing 10-8 in the opening 5:52 of action, Medgar Evers rattled off eight consecutive points (courtesy of a three-point conversion by Evans Jr, and five consecutive points from Grimsley) to take a 16-10 advantage with 12:18 remaining in the first half. The pendulum then swung the way of the hosts, as CCNY put together an 8-0 run of its own to snatch an 18-16 lead (Morety netted six points during that run for the Beavers).

Later, with 4:40 remaining in the half, and the game knotted at 24 apiece, CCNY took the lead for good when Michael Bowman converted on a triple to put the Beavers ahead 27-24. The Cougars eventually entered the locker room at halftime trailing by five (33-28).

In the second half, CCNY went up by 17 points on three occasions (61-44, 63-46, and 65-48), and the Beavers led by 16 (67-51) with 6:07 to go, but Medgar Evers put forth a late comeback push. The Cougars netted eight straight points over a span of 2:13 (courtesy of four points by Jackson Batley, a bucket by McCollum, and a pair of made freebees by Zachary Bussey. It was all Beavers from there, however, as CCNY closed the game on an 18-5 run while allowing just two Cougars field goals the rest of the way, to account for the 21-point margin of victory.

The Beavers connected on 47.8 percent of their shots from the floor for the evening (32-67), while also misfiring on just three free throws throughout the night (18-21, 85.7 percent). Medgar Evers earned a conversion rate of 38.7 percent (24-62) while draining nine out of 14 free throw opportunities (64.3 percent). CCNY Dominated the glass, snatching 52 boards while the Cougars had just 27, and the Beavers also held advantages in assists (21-11) and steals (11-7). CCNY also won the turnover battle, committing just 12 on the evening, while Medgar Evers had 15.

The Cougars will return to action on Tuesday evening, as Medgar Evers will host Baruch College in a CUNYAC game. Start-time at the Cougars Cave is scheduled for 7:00pm.

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