Men's Basketball | 2/14/2017 2:56:00 PM
New York, NY | BMCC Gymnasium is set to host the 2017 CUNYAC/Army ROTC Community College Basketball Tournament on Tuesday, February 14th when the opening round of the women's tournament tips off, followed by the semifinal round of the men's tournament beginning on Wednesday. The #2 Lady Panthers will take on the #3 LaGuardia Redhawks on Tuesday at 8pm, and the #3 Panthers will square off against the #2 Hostos Caimans on Wednesday at 8pm.
The first matchup on Tuesday will feature the top-seeded Caimans (23-3, 10-0 CUNYAC) of Hostos Community College as they face off against the #4 seeded Bronx Community College Broncos (12-13, 5-5 CUNYAC). In their first meeting of the year, Hostos easily defeated Bronx on the road, 67-32. In their second matchup last night, the Caimans also won handedly 77-58. The Caimans are currently ranked #10 in the nation and have won a record 19 in a row.
In the nightcap at 8:00PM, the reigning champions LaGuardia Community College Red Hawks (12-14, 6-4 CUNYAC) enter as a #3 seed facing off against the #2 seed BMCC Panthers. In their two previous meetings this year, BMCC (16-5, 7-3 CUNYAC) has bested LaGuardia by margins of 19 and 17 respectively.
The #3 Lady Red Hawks are seeking to win back-to-back championships as top-seeded Hostos is looking to win their first title since 2007. The Caimans seem up to the task after their undefeated play during the CUNYAC regular season. The #2 seeded BMCC Panthers are in search of their eighth championship, winning their last title in 2013. The #4 Bronx Broncos will look to avenge last year's championship loss to LaGuardia and try to win their second championship in three years. These matchups should be thrilling games with all teams going all out for the the chance to call themselves the 2016-17 CUNYAC Tournament Champions.
Following last week's thriller in which Bronx (16-11 Overall and 5-5 CUNYAC) defeated Hostos (14-9 Overall and 6-4 CUNYAC), 91-88, the 2017 CUNYAC/Army ROTC Community College Men's Basketball Semifinals have been set. Beginning on Wednesday, February 15th at BMCC four teams will begin vying for this year's crown.
The #1 seeded and reigning champion Red Hawks from LaGuardia (19-6, 9-1 CUNYAC) will kick off the tournament against the #4 seeded Bronx Broncos (15-12, 6-4 CUNYAC) in the night's first semifinal matchup at 6:00 pm.
The Red Hawks face a tough matchup against the Broncos who are sporting a 6-4 record in conference play. The Red Hawks have defeated the Broncos in both regular season matchups but Bronx is riding high following last night's victory which they needed just to get into this year's conference tournament. LaGuardia enters the tournament winning four of their last five games, all against Region XV Competition.
The second matchup of the night, scheduled for 8:00 pm, features the #2 seed Hostos Caimans (14-9, 6-4 CUNYAC). They will square off against the #3 seeded BMCC Panthers (12-10, 5-5 CUNYAC). BMCC is lead by the CUNYAC's leading scorer, Terrell Fullerton who is scoring at 24.4 PPG clip. Hostos likes to spread the wealth and have the Region's and CUNYAC's leading court general in Jemal Smith who has 11.3 assists per game.
LaGuardia enters the tournament just outside of the NJCAA's top ten rankings and have received votes for consideration. Their lone conference loss this year was at the hands of the Hostos Caimans, who enter the tournament as the #2 seed. Wednesday's winners will advance to the CUNYAC Championship Game, which will be played Friday, February 19th at BMCC. That game is slated to begin at 8:30PM.
