New Rochelle, NY | On Tuesday night the BMCC men's basketball team traveled to the Monroe Athletic Complex to take on the Express in a Region 15 showdown. After cutting a 14 point deficit in the second half down to just 1 point with 15 seconds remaining the Panthers were unable to convert a buzzer-beater in the final seconds, allowing the Express to escape with an 81-79 win.

The Express jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes and continued to push the tempo in the first half. BMCC entered halftime trailing 47-35, but would come out firing in the second half. A pair of three pointers from Alex Humphreys cut the deficit to 4 points with 13 minutes left in regulation.

With 5 minutes remaining, Monroe made a layup to push their lead to 77-70, then neither team could buy a basket on offense leading to a scoring drought that lasted nearly 4 minutes. Over the final minute and a half of regulation, the Panthers went on a 9-3 run to bring the score to 80-79, Monroe would make one free throw to bring their lead to 2 points with three seconds remaining. On the final possession of the game, a full court defense from the Express did not allow a clean look at the basket, forcing the Panthers to heave a half court shot that did not find the mark from as time expired.

In the losing effort, Quran Dublin scored over 30 points for the fourth consecutive game. The Panthers combo guard finished with 32 points by going 8 for 15 from the field and 12 for 13 from the free throw line. The reigning, two-time CUNYAC Player of the Week also grabbed 8 boards and dished out a team-high 6 assists. Ashan Adams recorded 18 points by shooting an efficient 69.2% from the field while hustling for 8 rebounds. Humphreys sank four three pointers on his way to 14 points and Viktor Kovacevic contributed with 9 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.

With their second loss of the season, the Panthers will fall to 17-2 but remain tied with Nassau at 8-2 in the Region 15 standings. BMCC will return to action on Thursday when they host the Suffolk Sharks in the second leg of a women's/men's doubleheader. Tip off will be 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game, at approximately 8pm.