New York, NY | After winning the CUNYAC Community College Championship last Friday, the men's basketball team had to finish off their regular season with a tough matchup against the top team in the region. With a game-high 33 point effort from CUNYAC Player of the Year Quran Dublin, the Panthers were able to extend the game into overtime, but in the end Suffolk would sneak away with a 107-100 victory to finish to claim the top seed in the NJCAA Region 15 Tournament while BMCC remains at the #4 seed.

The Sharks jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes before a layup from Lawrence Todman got the Panthers on the board. BMCC would gain their first lead 6 minutes into the game when Viktor Kovacevic posted up a Suffolk defender and brought the score to 14-13. The game would remain close as neither team could pull away, then Mark Morgan drilled a jumper at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 48-43 entering halftime.

The Panthers came out firing from beyond the three point arc in the second half, draining 8 threes to keep the score close. Trailing by 93-92 with 22 seconds remaining, Todman stepped up to the line and knocked down a free throw to bring his scoring total to 19 points and with a defensive stop on the next possession the Panthers would head into overtime.

In OT, the Sharks would score the final 6 points of the game to clinch the #1 spot in next week's Region 15 Tournament. After shooting 54.5% from the field, Dublin would finish with 33 points to go along with 15 rebounds and 6 assists. Freshman forward Viktor Kovacevic picked up 13 points and 5 boards in just 16 minutes, while fellow CUNYAC All Star Curtis Smith grabbed his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 assists.

The men's team finished the regular season with a record of 21-8, including a perfect 8-0 in conference games. They will enter the Region 15 Tournament as the #4 seed and take on the #5 Hostos Caimans in the opening round. More info will be available on the Region 15 website following the seeding meeting on Sunday.