New York, New York | After the BMCC men's basketball trailed by as much as 19 points twice; they outscored Suffolk 32-18 over the final 13:49, tying it once and a chance to tie it twice before falling short Suffolk 78-73 win on Sophomore Night at BMCC Gymnasium. With the loss, the Panthers finish the regular-season 10-13 (7-9 Region XV), while the Sharks improve to 16-5 (10-5 Region XV) with the win.

Prior to tipoff, the Mariners paid tribute to their four graduating sophomores with a special Sophomore Day ceremony honoring Joshua Taylor (Trenton, New Jersey), Austinson Cooke (Bronx, New York), Damonie Askew (Brooklyn, New York), Curtis Smith (Brooklyn, NY), and Terrance McBride (Brooklyn, New York). A Sophomore Night Ceremony photo gallery can be viewed at this link.

BMCC trailed from start to finish, falling behind twice by as many as 14 in the first half, and twice more by a game-high of 19 points in the second half. BMCC provided a spirited effort to knot the game up at 69 in the final 3:09 of regulation and a chance to take the lead for the first time before the Sharks were able to hold off the furious rally for the victory.

Three Panthers scored in double-figures, with two hitting the 20-point mark, as freshman Malik Bentinck (Queens, New York) put up his fourth straight double-double, with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. McBride drained 20 points on the evening, along with seven rebounds and four assists, while classmate Smith dished a team-high and game-best tied five assists, recording a total of seven rebounds and six points. 

Underclassmen Elvys Ceballos (New York City, New York) chipped in with 10 points and a game-high three steals, while fellow freshman Eric Massingale (Brooklyn, New York) and William Brown (Brooklyn, New York) contributed six and five, respectively.

The Panthers forced 18 turnovers in the contest, including 11 of them in the second half, but the Sharks were better at cashing in on their opportunities scoring 21 points off 15 BMCC turnovers. The Panthers got a season-high 43 points from their bench while dominating the scoring in the paint 40-30 and outrebounding Suffolk 34-32. 

After both squads traded the first six buckets early in the first half, Suffolk responded with a 13-1 run to take a double-digit lead by 12, 19-7, at 13:24. BMCC cut the Shark's hugest lead of the half, 14, down to single digits three times, on a Brown three-pointer at 11:20, on a Ceballos jumper and layup to trim the deficit to 23-14 and 36-28 at the 8:16 and 2:10 mark before Suffolk scored the last six points to go in at halftime up 42-28. 

The Sharks came out firing in the second half to build their lead to 19, its largest of the night two times, on a Michael Picataggio three-pointer at 15:49 to make it 55-36 and a 3-for-3 at the line on a three-shot opportunity to get it back to 60-41 at 13:49. The Panther's put together a ferocious rally and outscored Suffolk 28-9 - 14 of the points by Bentinck with six of them off two steals, seven from McBride and a three by Smith and two apiece from Ceballos and Cooke - over the next over 10:40, to tie the game up at 69 for the first time since the 17:33 mark of the first half.

BMCC gobbled up a missed layup on the following Sharks possession with a chance to take their first lead of the evening but, McBride's layup at 2:33 fell short, and ten seconds later, the Sharks retook the lead on the following possession 71-69. Then the Panthers sliced the deficit down to two twice more, 73-71 on a Cooke layup at 1:21, and 75-73 on a Smith jumper with 40 seconds.

Suffolk turned it over on the next possession, setting up BMCC for two potential game-tying series. Ceballos drove right down the middle of the lane, and his floater hit the back of the rim, then McBride's three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining missed, and the Sharks closed it out 2-for-3 at the charity stripe to hold on 78-73.

Quinton Williams led the scoring for the Sharks with a team-High 21 points, while Noah Stevenson registered a double-double, putting up 19 points and ripping down a team-High ten boards. Michael Picataggio contributed 18 points on the night and drained a game-high four three-pointers.

Notables:  

• Malik Bentinck (Queens, New York) recorded his team-leading 16th double-double on the year and his fourth in his last five games.
• Bentinck posted his team-best eleventh 20-point performance of the year, and his fourth straight and Terrance McBride (Brooklyn, New York) recorded his tenth, which is second on the team.
• McBride moved into 13th in program history with 496 career points passing Jeffrey Noel and Patrick Bonna, while he finished with his sixth consecutive game in double-figures and his team-leading 22nd in 23 contests this season.
• Bentinck is second on the team with 21 double-figure games, including eight straight, while Elvys Ceballos (New York City, New York) has scored in double-figures 15 times, which is third on the team.
• Sophomore William Brown (Brooklyn, New York) moved alone into seventh in school history with 147 career assists passing Justin Alleyne, while McBride is now 16th in program history with 107 career assists

The Panthers are two-time defending CUNYAC champions and will be in pursuit of a third straight conference title beginning next Wednesday, Feb. 19, against third-seed Bronx Community College. The opening jump is scheduled for 6 p.m. For More information about the 2020 CUNYAC Men's Basketball Championship, please visit www.bmccathletics.com.
 

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