Men's Basketball | 11/3/2016 5:25:00 PM

New York, NY | Following a long offseason for the Panthers basketball teams, the regular season is finally underway for the BMCC men's and women's basketball teams. BMCC will have their home opener on Tuesday, November 8^th beginning at 5:45pm when they host their CUNY Athletic Conference opponent, the Kingsborough Wave in a Lady Panthers/Panthers doubleheader.

The men's team will start their season this weekend when they travel to Bronx Community College for the 2016 Bronx Tip-Off Classic. The Panthers will be returning a pair of players, Rongerek Shealey and Anfernee Luster from their 2015-16 team that made an appearance in the CUNYAC Championship game. With a roster bolstered with incoming freshmen and transfer students, Shealey and Luster will be competing for minutes in the backcourt this season. BMCC's projected opening night starting lineup is comprised of 3 guards and 2 forwards including three freshman. Starters Jason Mejia, Terrell Fullerton, and George Keener will look to solidify the guard position, while Christopher Arminas and Jericho Cherisma hold down the frontcourt.

After averaging 6.9 points and 7.2 rebounds during his freshman season at BMCC in 2014, Cherisma will be looking to improve upon those numbers during his sophomore campaign. He will be joined by a Mejia, a transfer student from Globe Institute of Technology, who averaged 13 points per game as a freshman. Three freshmen cracked the starting lineup after having stellar seasons during their senior year in the Public School Athletic League. Arminas finished his senior season 4^th in the PSAL with 28 points per game, while Keener and Fullerton both averaged over 20 points per game. On a team with a surplus of freshman, the players will look up to the experience of team captains Mejia, Shealey, and Luster this season.

"After graduating 8 players last year, we went out and recruited a number of players to bolster our roster for this season. With the amount of young talent this year, there will be growing pains, but we have put in a lot of work this preseason and we expect the freshmen to contribute immediately" said first year head coach Thomas Guerin. "Despite playing in one of the toughest regions in the country, I fully expect us to be in the mix for a CUNYAC and Regional Championship this season"

Meanwhile the Lady Panthers will tip-off their regular season on Tuesday against Kingsborough. The women's team will be returning Malaysia Morton and Ashley Brooks, both were starters last season. A dynamic force in the paint for BMCC last season, Brooks will be looking to improve upon her 2015 campaign in which she was named to 1^st team All-CUNYAC and 2^nd team All-Region after leading the region in rebounding while averaging 11.4 points per game.

Second year head coach Ben Newberg made the most of his first full offseason with the Lady Panthers, as he recruited a pair of European born players Nikola Zilakova and Natalija Dubrovina, both are expected to make an immediate impact on the court. The coaching staff also brought in two local players Tiannie Hightower and Jehosheba Foster who dominated the PSAL and stuffed the stat sheet during their senior season in high school. With these new additions, the Lady Panthers will have a well-rounded lineup to start off their 2016-17 campaign.

"We have put in the preseason work, now it's time to execute. I am very excited to start the season" said Newberg. "I think we have the talent and depth to compete with everyone on our schedule."

With a few days remaining until the home opener, both coaches are optimistic about this upcoming season. Attendance for all home games is free so we encourage all students and staff at BMCC to come to the gymnasium to show their support for Panthers basketball as we begin our new season.