New York, NY | The BMCC Panthers punched their ticket back to the CUNYAC CC Men's Basketball finals on Wednesday night by beating the Hostos Caimans in a nail-biter by the score of 88-84. The second semi-final matchup of the night was one to remember as BMCC held off a late comeback by the Caimans to advance to the finals for the second straight year. The game came down to the final possession for Hostos with the Panthers leading 86-84. Jemal Smith of the Caimans would be called for a charging foul as he drove to the rim for the tying bucket with just 3.3 seconds remaining. Jason Mejia of the Panthers would hit both of the ensuing free throws, icing the game away for BMCC.

The Panthers distributed the scoring nicely as they finished the game with four players in double figures. Terrell Fullerton led the team with 20 points as well as 6 assists on his way to being named Army ROTC Player of the Game. The Panthers also got significant contributions from Jason Mejia (19 points) and Anthony McClean (18 points) while Jericho Cherisma pulled down an incredible 25 rebounds. Hostos was led by Malvin Nieves who recorded a double-double and scored a game high 24 points. Jemal Smith trailed close behind for the Caimans with 21 points of his own

"The first two times that they beat us we came out slow and sluggish. This time we just focused on coming out with intensity energy," said Fullerton when asked about his team's effort. "We just wanted to out hustle them. Not even talent wise, just with our heart and intensity."

The Panthers came out fired up on their home floor, looking to return to the finals for a second consecutive year. BMCC got some early shots to fall from beyond the arc which ignited a raucous home crowd. The Panthers were flying up and down the floor and before the Caimans had time to blink they were down 24-11 with 12:20 to go in the first half.

Hostos quickly turned things around though, going on a 10-0 scoring run of their own. With 8:06 remaining in the half, the Caimans had cut the Panthers' lead all the way down to 3, but they were still searching for that elusive first lead of the game. It came on a three pointer by Malvin Nieves at the 3:16 mark which put the Caimans up 32-31 for the first time in the game and quieted the home crowd for the time being.

A back and forth first half came to a close the only way it could with an incredible buzzer-beater three by Darryl Williams of Hostos which made the score 40-39 in favor of BMCC as the teams headed to the locker room. Jason Mejia led the Panthers with 12 points in the first half while Terrell Fullerton contributed 11 points of his own as well as 3 assists. Hostos was led by Malvin Nieves with 10 points and 5 rebounds at the half. The Caimans also got contributions from Jonathan Loria and Jemal Smith who each had 9 points in the half.

BMCC began the second half with some hot shooting that helped them rebuild the lead that they had let slip away in the first half. Hostos would not go away quietly, but with 13:21 to go in the game, the Panthers held a 59-52.

This game had already shown us that no lead was a comfortable one though. Jonathan Loria hit back-to-back threes for the Caimans to pull his team to within 4 with just over 8 minutes remaining. On the back of Loria, Hostos continued to claw their way back into the game, and with 4:31 remaining, a free throw by Sondai Downing brought the game to a 75-75 tie.

The game would come down to the final minute with the score sitting at 85-84 in favor of the Panthers. After Anthony McClean went 1-2 from the line to put BMCC up 86-84 with 24.4 seconds remaining, Hostos controlled their own destiny with the ball and the final possession of regulation. Jemal Smith went flying toward the rim with a chance to tie the game, but was called for a charge with just 3.3 seconds remaining. Jason Mejia of BMCC would hit both of the ensuing free throws and send his team on to the finals.

Waiting for the Panthers in the finals are the Laguardia Red Hawks, who beat the Panthers in the finals last year. When asked about the rematch, BMCC Head Coach Tommy Guerin said the difference might come from their home crowd being there to support them. The championship game will be held at Borough of Manhattan Community College on Friday night at 8:30pm. CUNYAC will be livestreaming the tournament final, click here to watch.