New York, NY – The men's basketball team suffered two losses this weekend after falling to Claremont Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 91-73 at home and then succumbing to Yeshiva, 81-71. The Hawks slip to 0-5 on the year and will search for their first win on Tuesday, November 24 when they host the Dolphins of the College of Staten Island at 7:30 in the season's first CUNYAC contest.
 
Claremont Mudd-Scripps
Brian Kruger dropped 24 points in the loss; 12 of them coming from beyond the arc and eight from the charity stripe. Matt Franks did his part with 13 points while Marcus Ashamole and Alex Mattina combined for 12.
 
As a team, Hunter shot 45% (23-51) and went 18-23 from the foul line. They got 18 points off the bench while 22 of their points came from inside the paint.
 
CMS shot a daggering 56.3% from the floor and an equally impressive 56% from the three-point line. Hunter struggled with their presence in the paint as 36 of their points came from down low while they won the battle on the boards with 39 rebounds compared to Hunter's 23.
 
The Hawks played from behind beginning from the early stages of the game. They let a one basket deficit at the 15:02 mark balloon into as much as 22 over the ensuing 12 minutes. A free throw by Ashamole and a triple from Kruger on a Mattina assist  brought the differential to under 20 at 49-33 by the half.
 
While the second half act was played on a more even keel, the Purple and Gold were unable to dig their way out of the double figure deficit. The CMS lead hovered between 16 and 22 for the remainder of the game, ultimately ending 91-73 in CMS's favor.
 
Yeshiva
Lowell Stevens led Purple and Gold as their high scorer. The freshman posted 17 points while Kruger chipped in with 16. Ashamole did his part with 10 points. The Hawks were23-58 from the field including 6-17 from down town. They scored 20 points off of 22 Yeshiva turnovers and got 18 points from the bench while pouring in 28 from in the paint.
 
A jumper from Ashamole gave Hunter the lead off the bat as they watched it grow to as much as six at the 16:35 mark. However, Yeshiva wound up going on a 29-12 run to turn the tables and create an 11 point gap with just over seven minutes left in the first.
 
The Hawks, unfazed by the steep climb ahead, cut the deficit back to a point courtesy of a jumper by Franks and two consecutive layups by Stevens. As time expired in the first, Yeshiva found themselves up by seven at 46-39.
 
In the second, despite finding themselves behind by as much as 13 at one point, fought their way back to make it a three-point affair, 71-68 with 3:29 showing on the clock. However, Yeshiva closed out the game with a 10-3 run to close the books on Hunter's fifth loss.
 
They return to action on Tuesday, November 24 to take on the College of Staten Island at home. Tip off begins at 7:30pm.