General | 4/5/2021 9:24:00 AM

New York, New York – As the 2021 Spring Esports regular season moves into the home stretch, playoff positions were at stake for the Borough of Manhattan Community College Esports program's top squads going into the final two weeks of competition. From the moment both Panther's Call of Duty teams began their competition, they have dominated their opponents week in and week out, with both squad one and two in their respective standings.

After their first-ever primetime matchup, the Panther's Rocket League squad didn't have a letdown, and their individual players picked up important victories in Super Smash Brothers and NBA 2K21 to keep them in the playoff picture.

The Panther's Call of Duty Cold War team Aisha Ellis (Queens, NY), Christian Vasquez (Brooklyn, NY), Jarrett Thomas (Brooklyn, NY), Jose Brazoban (Bronx, NY), Justin Jacobs (Queens, NY), Pablo Romero (Queens, NY), and Raheem Redway (Yonkers, NY) climbed to the top of the Group 3 standings with a 2-0 victory against Columbia-Greene Community College, and their Warzone unit used a 2-0 defeat Garden City Community College to solidify themselves in the top two in the Group 4 standings. Cold War will put their undefeated record on the line against number two ranked Carl Albert State College on Friday, April 9 at 5 p.m. and Warzone against Central Wyoming College on Wednesday, April 7 at 7 p.m.

Rocket League Dakarie Downie (Brooklyn, NY), Kevin Martinez (Brooklyn, NY), and Jonathan Colvin (New York, NY) faced a difficult dynamic after falling to Lackawanna College in a National Primetime matchup a week ago. It did not faze the Panthers as they got back on track with a dominant 4-1 win against Eastern Arizona College.

Downie "Silent Abyss" and Colvin "SenorMiss" got BMCC out of the gate right from the start in the first game as Downie and Colvin both recorded Hat Tricks to help the Panthers roll 6-1. After surrendering the first goal in game two, Martinez "UndeadPhenox" tied it up, and Downie recorded another hat trick to roll off four consecutive goals en route to a 4-1 decision. After surrendering the first goal in game two, Martinez tied it up, and Downie recorded another hat trick to roll off four consecutive goals en route to a 4-1 decision.

Downie continued his scoring touch in game three with the first two goals, and Martinez added a third before Eastern Arizona College got it down to two, 3-1 with a minute to go. Downie would post another Hat Trick extending the lead back to 4-1, and the Gila Monsters added one late, but the Panthers still ended the stanza with a 4-2 win and three games to none advantage.

In the fourth game, Downie and Martinez went off for the first three goals as BMCC looked destined to sweep Eastern Arizona College. The Gila Monsters wouldn't go away, scoring three straight tallies to force overtime, then getting the winner early in the extra session to take it 4-3 and force a game five.

After the Eastern Arizona College led most of the fifth game, Downie got a beautiful off-wall feed from Colvin and buried in the empty net ahead with 11 seconds remaining to knot it up at one and force another overtime session. The Panthers made sure the narrative was different this time around. Martinez finished the rebound off on a net mouth scramble of off a ricocheted shot from Downie to send the Panthers to an overtime victory 2-1.

Rocket League will look to clinch a playoff spot in the final week of competition against Alexandria Technical and Community College on Thursday, April 8 at 5 p.m. live on twitch by clicking here.

Caleb Miller (Brooklyn, NY) kept himself locked in for the final two playoff spots in the NBA2K21 Group 1 standings with a 2-1 win against Central Wyoming College, while Ivan Minaya (New York, NY) swept Fort Scott Community College's Bob 4-0 to finish his regular season.

The victory was fun for Minaya and worth the work he put in before the match. "Overall, it was a good game, and the whole time I was just thinking about the win, but it isn't something to brag about. It's more about being humble, and that approach makes each match fun, especially when you get the victory," said Minaya.

Abel Perez (Bronx, NY) will finish up against Community College of Beaver County on April 6 at 5 p.m.  Miller tips off Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m. against Barton Community College.

The BMCC Valorant squad's Imran Muhammad (Bronx, NY), Julio Lozano (Bronx, NY), Justin Too (New York, NY), Ryan Castro (Bronx, NY), Umair Irshad (Brooklyn, NY), Abel Sanchez (Bronx, NY), and Vasquez fell to Nassau Community College, 13-7 on Friday evening. They will look to return to their winning ways Friday, April 9, at 7 p.m. against Hines Community College. 

For more information, please visit the BMCC Esports Schedule Page. Also, you can watch our Esports teams in action live on our brand new twitch page by clicking here.
 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of seven varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).