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NEW YORK, NY| The Borough of Manhattan Community College women's and #4 men's basketball teams split a Senior Day, CUNY Athletic Conference doubleheader with Bronx Community College on Tuesday evening at home. In the opener, the women were downed 59-44, while the men came from behind to earn a gutsy 87-78 victory.Forward Alexis Hart was honored before the start of the women's match and went on to notch five points and 13 rebounds. Kristen Merrell recorded her 11th straight double-double, posting 20 points and 10 rebounds in addition to six assists and three blocks in the loss. Center Kwana Brunson contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, and guard Ashley Duplan scored seven.
Neither side shot well, but the Broncos held the edge, outshooting the Panthers 25%-23.7%. Bronx's bench also outscored BMCC's bench 13-0.
Prior to the men's game, sophomore's Elijah Bryant, Justin Manon, Joseph Ojo, Kelvin Plickett, Lowell Stevens and Akeem Williams were celebrated and five of the six--Manon, Ojo, Plickett, Stevens and Williams--were in the BMCC starting lineup.
The Panthers and Broncos essentially played point for point in a fiercely paced first half up until the 7:41 mark when Bronx began to steadily build a lead. At 2:02 the Broncos were up 44-36, but the Panthers rallied to score the last two buckets to head into the break down 44-40.
Bronx widened their lead back out to eight points at 15:58, but BMCC would chip away and claim 17 of next 26 points to tie the game at 61 at 10:07. The Panthers then took a six-point lead (70-64) lead at 8:37 courtesy of a Jericho Cherisma tip in. Bronx would tie the game back up at 74 at 5:03, but it was BMCC that found a way to score 13 of the next 17 and claim the 87-78 win.
Ojo's 21 points were a sophomore- and team-high in the game, but Cherisma's heroics off the bench midway through the second half we're the difference in this one. The forward finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Kenneth Coar's 13 points and 12 rebounds earned him his 10th double-double of the season, meanwhile Akeem Williams (11 points, 13 rebounds) recorded his fifth.
The Panthers dominated in the paint, outscoring the Broncos 46-26, and held an even larger margin in bench points (42-10). Bronx was the better shooting team from three (29.6%-25%), but BMCC shot better overall from the floor (43.8%-36.4).
Up next for the men and the women is Sullivan County Community College. Both sides will head up to Loch Sheldrake, NY on Saturday, February 7, with the women taking the court at 1:00 PM and the men at 3:00 PM.
As always, check back on BMCCAthletics.com for the latest news and developments surrounding the BMCC Panthers. Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @BMCCAthletics for up-to-the-minute stories and in-game updates.
