Bronx, New York – After a disappointing loss on Tuesday night, the BMCC men's basketball team had an excellent bounce-back opportunity to knock off perennial Region 15 power Monroe-Bronx for the first time in four seasons. The Panthers returned to their bread and butter with a suffocating defensive effort and dominating presence on the glass en route to a massive 72-50 victory over the Express at Monsignor Scanlan Gym in the Bronx, New York. 

The victory over the Express was the Panther's first since the 2019-20 season when they defeated Monroe-Bronx 91-81 at home on November 21, 2019, while defeating them on the road for the first time in program history in this young series. BMCC now stands 3-2 (3-1 Region 15), while Monroe-Bronx drops to 3-2 (1-1 Region 15) after the loss.

The Panthers are tied with NJCAA Division III nationally ranked No. 7 Dutchess Community College, Nassau Community College, and Hostos Community College for the most Region 15 victories, with three.

Two Panthers scored in double figures, with freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) dropping a career and game-high 23 points, 12 of them in the first half on 8-for-14 shooting, while sophomore Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) posted his team-best fifth double-figure game with 16 points, with 11 of them coming in the second half. Freshman Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) hauled down a career and game-best 18 rebounds, his fourth straight and team-leading fourth double-digit rebound game while matching his career-best with a game-high seven blocks and three steals, just missing his second double-double of the season by one point with nine on the evening.
 
Freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) dished out a game-best seven assists and snatched seven rebounds.
 
The Panthers registered four new season highs, dominating the glass with a season-best 48 rebounds and outrebounding Monroe-Bronx by a 12-rebound margin while setting another season-high from the free throw line with a 93.3% mark (14-of-15), surpassing their 92.3% effort (12-for-13) last Tuesday night against Queensborough Community College on November 14, 2023. They also held Monroe-Bronx to a season-low 31.7% shooting from the field (20-for-63), also season-bests for BMCC.

The Panthers got out of the gate quickly, scoring the game's first six points on a Black three-pointer at 18:19 and a Mohammed jumper at 16:42, then building it to seven, 9-2, at 15:27 after a pair of Marte free throws. The Express roared back with seven straight points, and Abubakar Kromah's jumper at 10:32 tied it at nine. 

BMCC registered six of the following eight points to build the lead back to four, 15-11 on a three-pointer from Mohammed at 8:56. Seven of the following nine points would come from Monroe-Bronx with a Jaream Eason layin, tying it up again at 15 at 5:19 and a Derrick Simpson three-pointer giving the Express their first lead of the night 18-17 at the 4:11 mark. The Panthers got the lead back to five, 23-18, at the 3:19 mark with a 6-0 run, all points coming from Black (3-for-3 FG and 1-1 FT). The Express got within three, 23-20, on a Timothy Charles layup at 3:07 before the Panthers scored the last six points of the half with a pair of Marte free throws, making it 29-20, BMCC's largest lead of the first half at halftime.
 
The Panthers started the second half with the same script,, registering seven of the first nine points to extend their lead to double digits for the first time on the night: 14, 36-22 at 17:42 on a pair of Mohammed free throws. They never allowed the Express to get the deficit below double digits, stretching the advantage to 27, 63-26 at the 5:24 mark, their largest of the night when Mohammed went two-for-two at the charity stripe. BMCC continued to cruise on their way to a 72-50 victory.
 
Abubakar Kromah led the Express with a team-high 13 points, and Anthony Bannister grabbed a team-best six boards. Jovan Young and Kromah both dished out a team-best tied three assists each.
 
The Panthers' next game is their biggest of the season as they will look for two straight victories against NJCAA Division III nationally ranked No. 7 Dutchess Community College, last year's Region 15 champion, on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 2 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, New York. This matchup is a rematch of last year's 2023 Region 15 quarterfinals. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.

Notables –
 
- Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) is 12th nationally in scoring average and tops BMCC at 21.6 points per game. He has scored in double-figures in all five games, which leads the Panthers, and is also their leader in field goals made (42), field goals attempted (73), free throws made (21), and free throws attempted (28) and has nine steals.
- Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) is second in the country with five blocks per game and 6th nationally in rebounding average at 14.2 rebounds per game. He has registered four straight double-digit rebound games, tops on the team, and recorded three or more blocks in all five games and five or more in four consecutive contests.
- Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) is fourth in the country with 6.2 assists per game, distributing seven or more in four straight contests and a career-high eight twice against Nassau Community College on November 11, 2023, and Queensborough Community College on November 14, 2023.
- Khalil Black (Queens, New York) has scored in double figures the last three games and is averaging 18.7 points per game.


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