Men's Basketball | 2/21/2019 4:12:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Update 2/27
The opening round of the NJCAA Region XV Basketball Championship was highlighted by a pair of upsets in the men's bracket, with the #6 Monroe Express beating the #3 Hostos Caimans 83-80, and the #5 Queensborough Tigers outlasting the #4 BMCC Panthers in a heartbreaking 75-71 loss for the host school. The top two seeded teams in the tournament handled business in the first round, with #1 Suffolk Sharks easing past the #8 Falcons 84-50 and the #2 Nassau Lions coming out on top in a 71-60 victory over the #7 Bronx Broncos.

In the women's bracket the #6 BMCC Lady Panthers mounted a comeback against the #3 Suffolk Sharks with a 22-11 scoring run in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as the Sharks claimed a 52-37 victory. With the win, the Sharks will advance to the next round to take on the #2 Nassau Lions. The #1 Hostos Caimans awaited the winner of the matchup between #4 Monroe Express and #5 Queensborough Lady Tigers. After trailing in the first quarter, the Express offense was ignited and Monroe cruised to a 62-44 victory.

The remainder of the tournament will be hosted by BMCC, with the semifinal rounds beginning on Saturday and the Finals tipping off Sunday at noon.

Story originally posted on 2/21
For the first time ever, the NJCAA Region XV Basketball Championship will be hosted by the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Both the semifinal and final round of the men's and women's tournament will be held in BMCC Gymnasium on March 2^nd and 3^rd.

The men's tournament begins on Tuesday, February 26^th with four intriguing matchups, all games in the quarterfinal round will be hosted by the higher seed. The winner of the Men's Region XV Championship will advance to the NJCAA Division III Championship in Rochester, Minnesota. The quarterfinals will feature the following pairings:

#1 Suffolk Sharks (16-0) vs #8 Dutchess Falcons (4-12) at Selden, NY

#2 Nassau Lions (13-3) vs #7 Bronx Broncos (5-11) at Garden City, NY

#3 Hostos Caimans (10-6) vs #6 Monroe Express (6-9) at Bronx, NY

#4 BMCC Panthers (8-8) vs #5 Queensborough Tigers (7-9) at BMCC Gymnasium, New York, NY

*Team records are for Region XV games only, does not reflect overall record

By finishing the season with a top-4 record in the region, the Panthers have put themselves in a position to have home court advantage throughout the regional playoffs. Their quarterfinal matchup against Queensborough will tip off at 7pm at BMCC Gymnasium. The #4 Panthers will take on the #5 Tigers for the fourth time this season. After splitting the regular season series 1-1, the Panthers came out on top in a decisive 92-70 victory in the semifinals of the CUNY Athletic Conference tournament. BMCC men's basketball head coach Tommy Guerin provided some insight into the tournament field this year.

"From top to bottom, every team in this region has plenty of talent on their roster," claimed Guerin. "Any team in this field can give you problems on any given day, so we're not going to take anything for granted and prepare for each round like we're playing against the top team in the nation."

The women's bracket features 6 teams, including two teams (#2 Hostos Community College and #5 Nassau Community College) ranked among the top 5 in the nation, looking to battle it out with a trip to the National Championship in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on the line. The opening round matchups will be as follows:

#4 Monroe Express (5-6) vs #5 Queensborough Lady Tigers (3-9) at New Rochelle, NY

#3 Suffolk Sharks (8-4) vs #6 BMCC Lady Panthers (2-10) at Selden, NY 

The Lady Panthers will play Suffolk for the second game in a row when they travel to Selden, NY to square off against the #3 seeded Sharks. Tip-off for this opening round game is set for 6pm. While Suffolk came out on top in their two regular season matchups, Lady Panthers' head coach Eric Almonte believes his team can flip the script in the region tournament.

"I feel like we have a lot left in the tank and we will prove that we are a better team than what we showed in our last two outings (against Suffolk)" said Almonte. In each of the last two matchups between these teams, the Lady Panthers were without key players in their starting lineup due to injuries, but now the team is fully healthy and ready to make a playoff push.

Admission to the 2018-19 NJCAA Region XV Men and Women's Basketball Championship will be free of charge, so we encourage all fans to come out to BMCC Gymnasium for the tournament and show support for the BMCC men's and women's basketball teams as they take on their competition.