New York, New York – The BMCC men's basketball came into Saturday afternoon's home opener against NJCAA Division III No. 15 nationally ranked Nassau Community College with a major opportunity to make a Regional and National statement. From the opening tip, the Panthers were locked in utilizing their tremendous depth brought in by third-year Head Coach Tommy Keenan to fight off every challenge thrown at them by the Lions and putting an exclamation point on it by outscoring their visitors 20-9 for the final 9:09 en route to a 76-63 upset victory over Nassau Community College on Saturday afternoon at BMCC Gymnasium. The Panthers improved to 2-1 (2-0 Region XV) with their second straight victory and first over the Lions since February 12, 2022, while Nassau dropped to 1-1 (1-1 Region XV).
BMCC shot over 50% from the field for the second straight game, posting a 52.7% mark (29-for-55) overall while lighting it up in the second half, shooting 68.2% (15-for-22). The Panthers also dominated in the Paint, registering double-digit blocks for the first time since the 2019-20 season, swatting away a season-best 11 blocks.
For a second straight game, the Panthers got a balanced offensive effort, with three different players scoring in double figures and two posting 20-point scoring efforts. Sophomores Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) and
Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) led the way.
Jarrett matched a career-best with 23 points, 11 of which came in the first half, and Marte dropped 20 points, 15 of them in the first half. Marte has now recorded five career 20-point games, and it was his second straight game with 20 or more points.
Freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) also posted a career-best 17 points, 12 of them in the second half on a team-best three three-pointers, while classmate
Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) was a terror inside, hauling down a game-best 17 rebounds and blocking a career-high seven shots.
Freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) was huge off the Panthers' bench, recording a career-high eight assists and contributing eight points.
The first half was back and forth, with five lead changes and four ties. After Nassau stuck first with a three-pointer at the 19:43 mark, BMCC would go on a furious 11-0 run, holding the Lions scoreless for 3:26 with a Jarrett layup at 15:17 giving them an eight-point lead 11-8. After the Lions got within three twice, the Panthers would build the lead back to 17-10 on a Marte jumper at 12:10. Nassau got the deficit down to one 19-18 with an 8-2 run of their own capped off by two free throws from Bashir Boyd at 8:02.
The Lions scored five of the next eight points to retake the lead 23-22 on a Joey Oden three-pointer. There were two more lead changes and two ties, with a Black three-pointer at 3:55 giving the Panthers back the lead 29-28. BMCC would score nine of the final 16 points of the half to lead by one, 36-35.
Nassau retook the lead 41-40 with a Shane Turner layup at 16:53, but the Panthers would roll off a 9-0 run capped by a Black three-pointer at the 15:09 mark to make it 49-41 before Nassau got as close as two, 56-54 on an Oden three with 9:09 left but the Panthers would shut the door from there on out for a 76-63 victory.
The Panthers will look for three straight victories in CUNYAC action against 2022-23 CUNYAC Community College Basketball Champions Queensborough Community College on Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 from RFK Gymnasium in Bayside, New York. For more information, visit the
BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
Notables -
- The Panthers, through three games, have three players ranked in the
top 20 nationally statistically, with sophomore
Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) averaging 22.7 points per game, which is tenth in the nation, and
Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) who is
15th with 5.3 assists per game.
- Freshman
Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) is in the
top ten nationally in two categories, ranking third in blocks per game (4.3) and tied fifth in rebounds per game (13.0).
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